Fire Emblem: Vanguard Awakening
by Hurricane's Quill
Summary: A chance encounter with the Outrealm Gate sends four siblings from Earth into the world of Ylisse, which inexplicably also has the power of Vanguard! With no way to return home, they must unite as a family and as Vanguard Fighters to fight a dark foe that threatens their new friends. STAND UP, VANGUARD!
1. Premonition: Invisible Ties

**Premonition: Invisible Ties**

_Arnold Bennett once said this: "Change, no matter how much for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomfort." I certainly know quite a bit about change. After all, it's not often when a lot of things you accepted as true in the world suddenly get flipped on their axes, and then you're suddenly forced to fend for yourself in a more hostile world than anyone, much less myself, would be used to. _

_However, while the above is definitely true, I can also say with confidence that the reverse is also true. Change, no matter how many drawbacks and discomfort accompany it, is always for the better. Those who have had misfortune befall them would disagree, I'm sure, but when I say that, I'm usually referring to in the grand scheme of things. Change is all about perspective._

"_So what is this doing in a book about the Grimleal War?" I hear you ask. Well, this is my book, for one. But more accurately, it's there because, as you read, perhaps these words will help to illustrate my point, and how it changed the lives of four Californians, living in the middle of nowhere, into four great heroes whose deeds will live on. _

_My name is Ryan King, the Steel Stormbringer of Ylisse. And this is our story._

* * *

"Mail's here!"

Ryan looked up from the computer screen, watching his brother Danny enter the kitchen from the garage. He was carrying a handful of envelopes and a package under his arm, which he dropped on the nearby table to sort through.

"Bills, junk, more junk…huh. Ryan, stuff here for you," Danny said, holding out a few packaging envelopes to him. Ryan's eyes lit up, taking the envelopes.

"I have a good idea what these are," he said, attempting to feel the contents out through the paper bubble wrap. "Where are the scissors?"

"I got them!" a girl's hand shot out from another room into the hall, holding a pair of pink-handled scissors.

"Ah. There we go," Ryan said, making his way over where his sister Regan was. The blonde-haired girl of twenty was in the dining room, a fairly old sewing machine on the table and surrounded by thread and materials. He took the scissors from her and made his way back to his seat, then cut open the top of the envelopes in turn and removed their contents, laying them out on the counter next to the computer in a small pile.

"More cards?" asked Danny.

"What?" Ryan shrugged, taking one set of cards out of their protective hard cover and thumbing through them to make sure his order had all arrived. "I figured I could use whatever money I had left to finish up my Daiyusha deck, especially now that those Vanguard players at the college are going to AT Comics."

"You could be using that money to buy a car, you know," Regan said.

"Oh God, not this again," groaned Ryan. "Sarah made a whole lot more money than the two of us combined, and it still took her at least a year to buy her 'little putt-putt car.' Little purchases here and there isn't going to make the process any slower."

"But it also won't make it faster."

Ryan resisted the urge to find something to bash his head against. This was an argument that he'd been hearing from his parents of late for quite a while, and each time just seemed to make it worse. "Did I ask for an opinion, miss accountant? 'cause I don't remember asking."

"I'm just saying," Regan replied, putting up her hands for a moment before returning to her sewing.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ryan rolled his eyes, getting up from his seat again and going into his room on the other end of the hallway. He ran his finger down the chest of drawers against the wall and opened one, producing a handful of other Vanguard cards. "Right then…let's put you together and see how you run online before we take you to the shop."

As he came back out, he suddenly could hear the sound of what sounded like faint whispers, almost born from his fired imagination than anything real. He almost shrugged it off as exactly that, but when he went back to his computer, he noticed that he'd lost his connection to the Internet. "Danny, having any trouble with the Internet on your end?"

"No, I don't…" Danny began, but then he pulled out his tablet, and blinked. "Yeah, actually. Why?"

"'cause I just lost mine. Regan?"

"Same here," said Regan, coming into the room, holding up her iPod. It, too, had lost its wi-fi connection. "You guys check the router?"

"I'll be right back," Danny said, leaving the room. As he left, Ryan could hear the whispers somehow getting louder, but the whispers all sounded more like incoherent babbling than anything of substance, and as he stepped towards the window overlooking the driveway and the street in front he could hear the whispers get louder still. But then, there was a small flash of light as a white car suddenly rolled into the driveway and came to a halt, and the whispers seemed to stop. Ryan blew out a sigh, going to an adjacent window facing in another direction. Nothing.

The door opened, and Ryan's other sister Sarah entered through the door, placing her bright blue leather purse on the table next to the mail. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Ryan mumbled, still a little preoccupied with what he'd been hearing (or not).

"Hey, Sarah," said Regan. "How's Paige doing?" Paige was a friend of Sarah's, and of the whole family by extension.

"She's fine. Getting rounder," Sarah said, digging her smartphone out of her purse. After thumbing the screen, she frowned, and her brow furrowed. "Huh."

"Something wrong?" Ryan asked.

"I don't have a signal on my cellphone anymore," Sarah frowned.

"And we just lost our Internet," Ryan said, brow furrowed. "Danny's gone upstairs to check on the router."

"Well, the router's okay," said Danny, coming back into the room. "I reset it just in case, but I didn't get the connection back, though."

Ryan went to the computer, dragging his finger across the mousepad on the laptop he'd been using earlier. "Yeah, nothing here. So I guess the provider's gone and borked again and calling Dad while he's with his family in Beaumont is out of the question. Fan-frickin'-tastic."

"Oh, no, whatever will we do," Regan said sarcastically, turning around to go back to the dining room.

Ryan blew out a sigh. Their father worked in computers as a living as a director of IT at a local community college, but he was out of town currently and calling him for advice wasn't worth the trouble, so they would either have to wait until the problem sorted itself out, or until he got home, both of which could take quite a bit of time. After staring at the computer and his unfinished Daiyusha deck, he rolled his eyes and sat back down, grabbing the cards as he went through them once again. "Great."

* * *

Eventually the evening gave way to night, and the situation hadn't changed at all. Ryan had completed and tested his new Dimension Robo deck so many times he was certain he could taste the ink from the cards through the protectors and was bored. The whispering came and went, although it did reach a point during dinner when Ryan actually almost became sick while eating his carne asada burritos and had to make a run for the bathroom, only for the rampaging headache and whispers to abruptly vanish before the door even slammed shut.

As he started to gather his cards, something finally caught his eye from the window outside: a bright blue-green glow, emanating from somewhere and bathing the walls of their house in the same color. "What the hell is that?"

Sarah, who had been in the middle of cleaning dishes from dinner, looked out the window, and then joined her brother outside. "I don't know. Maybe someone's holding a rave down the street?"

"How? This neighborhood's quiet as Junius Seven." Sarah gave her brother a strange look. "Whatever it is, it's really weird."

"Well, whatever it is, I don't think it's anything we need to worry about it," said Sarah, going back to the kitchen sink. However, as she turned the faucet on, the lights in the room flickered and went dark, and the TV in the room across from the kitchen went dark. All that was left to light up the room was the green glow and the light from the computer on the table, now running on battery power.

"…you're a friggin' jinx," grumbled Ryan. "Did Mom move the flashlight in the pantry?"

"Still on the top shelf, last I checked," Sarah said.

Ryan turned the computer screen to the pantry, using the screen's light to light up the small room. He stepped inside, looked off to the side, and spotted the large orange flashlight sitting on the top shelf. He took it off the shelf and hit the button. A beam of light came out, lighting up the ceiling. Ryan nodded, and then made his way to the door outside, as Sarah pulled out some electronic candles, lighting them and placing them in wall-mounted sconces. "I'll be right back. I'll go check the breaker."

Stepping out of the house, Ryan noticed that whatever was giving off the glow was bright enough or close enough to provide light. Ryan went over to the circuit breaker and opened the panel, shining the flashlight inside. However, it appeared nothing had been tripped. "Of course it's not the breaker," Ryan grumbled. Looking out into the street, he saw one of their neighbors from a house across the street also outside, apparently trying to seek out the same source of the problem.

"You got problems, man?" Ryan called.

"Yeah, power went out! Probably problems with the distribution station down the street from the complex!"

"I guess so…" Ryan said. A thought occurred to him then, and then he followed up with, "You think it has anything to do with that green light out there?"

"Green light?"

"Yeah, it's right in front of your house, can't miss it!"

The man tilted his head, making his way into the street and then turned to face his house. He stared at it for a moment, then turned back to Ryan, shrugging. "Funny, I don't see it."

"It's alright, it's probably just my imagination…" Ryan waved it off. "Thanks anyway." As he shut off his flashlight, he turned around to head outside, only to find Danny joining him outside.

"Sarah said you went to check on the breaker," Danny said. Ryan merely shook his head. "…think it has something to do with that glow?"

"So you can see it? Guy across the street couldn't…" Ryan frowned. "...I'll be right back." Ryan made his way back inside to his room, putting on his socks and wushu shoes.

"Where are you going?"

"You, Sarah, and I are the only ones who can see that glow, and I'm willing to bet cash to cards that Regan could see it," said Ryan. "That can't be coincidence."

"You don't know that," Danny said.

At that moment, Regan came down from upstairs and poked her head into the room. "Hey, you guys know anything about that glow going on outside?"

Ryan gave his brother a slight smile and stood up. "Defense rests, Your Honor. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting a bike and heading out to see if I can find it."

"How do you expect to find it?" asked Danny.

"That light is pretty bright, brighter than your typical harvest moon, meaning it's either very bright, very close, or both," said Ryan, making his way to the small adjacent garage. "I could just follow the direction of the shadows until I find it or get outside of the complex." He proceeded to throw the garage door up, grabbing a mountain bike from off the wall. "It shouldn't take long."

"Ryan, why are you making a big deal out of this glow?" Sarah asked. "I still think it's really nothing to worry about."

"You may be right," Ryan shrugged. "But I'm friggin' bored and it's not like there's anything more pressing going on. I'm off."

* * *

Ryan finally came to a halt, removing the flashlight he had from his mouth that he'd been using to light his way since he left the complex. The blue-green glow wasn't that far away, just further across the sand dunes leading into the foothills. There was a singing in the air, almost like the keening of dental instruments, that was coming from the same general direction as the glow, but he wasn't able to see the source quite yet.

As Ryan got off the bicycle, he proceeded the rest of the way on foot, flashlight tracing wild shapes with the beam of light it was emitting. Eventually, he reached a patch of open desert, where he saw what he was looking for. It was a large swirling vortex of blue-green energy, leading to nowhere in particular. Slowly approaching it, he reached out and held his hand out against the energy. It was cool to the touch in contrast to the warm summer air around. Ryan's eyes narrowed, trying to process what was going on, as he curled his fingers and stuck the tips inside. It was almost like touching a pool of water directly in front of him, and upon retracting his hand, he noticed it was unharmed and dry.

"Ryan!"

Sarah, Regan, and Danny had managed to catch up with him, all of them riding bicycles of their own. Ryan turned to face his siblings. "What do you think, Sarah? Still think it's nothing to worry about?"

Sarah simply gave her brother a "Really?" look. Danny reached into his jacket, pulling out a smartphone. Tapping the screen and holding the device up, the youngest King frowned. "Still no signal. How convenient."

"Should we call the police?" asked Sarah.

"How? No wi-fi, no cell reception, and the nearest police anything is the sheriff dispatch office about ten minutes down the road by car," Ryan replied.

"We do have my car."

"And who's going to believe us?"

Danny pointed his smartphone at Ryan and the object behind him, a clicking sound emanating briefly from the device. "Proof obtained, let's go."

"They'll say you Photoshopped it!"

"Ryan, why are you so dead-set against us going to the police?" Regan asked. "This is something that we need to tell people about!"

"Tell them what, exactly? We don't even know what this is!" said Ryan, gesturing behind him with his hand. As he did, though, his hand ended up passing through the vortex, causing his siblings to step back in shock. Looking behind him, Ryan quickly retracted his hand, finding it unharmed once again.

"Could you not do that again?" asked Sarah.

"I already tested it, it's safe, at least as far as I know," Ryan shrugged.

"Yeah. At least as far as you know," said Regan. "How do we know it's not, like, radioactive, or something?"

"If it was irradiated, we'd all be heaving or getting a nice tan right about now," Ryan countered, even though Regan's question left him with a pang of uncertainty. "Besides, you never answered my question: what in the pluperfect hell is this thing and how do we explain it to the police without it looking like we've gone section eight?"

Nobody had an answer.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ryan said.

"No need to be catty," groaned Sarah. "So how do we know what this is?"

"Well, only way to know for certain is to peek inside…so…" Ryan immediately ducked his head and took a step forward, sticking his head in the swirling gateway. Inside was mostly more of the same swirling green mists in all directions, and the only thing that could help determine the horizon line was the mists going off into the distance like a pinwheel. Nodding, Ryan pulled his head back, seeing the mortified looks of his family. "Very empty in there."

"Ryan, you need to stop!" said Sarah.

"What for?"

"Playing with the…whatever it is! It's not safe!"

"Not safe? Come on, girls, I could float in this thing if it were physically possible-" Ryan crossed one of his legs and stretched an arm out, pressing an arm past the barrier into wherever it was going, but as he did so, his foot twitched. This caused to the ground him to shift slightly, and with no desert next to it to stabilize him, Ryan ended up falling off to the side and into the portal itself. "-OH SHIIII-"

And that was all he managed to get out, the scream echoing like the chime of someone rubbing the rim of a wine glass.

As Ryan fell through the green swirling mists, he wondered briefly if he was going to die. His own pride had gotten the better of him and now it was going to be the end of him, with not even a corpse to leave behind. It was that kind of moment that made him want to cry, the realization that there was so much more he could've done. In light of this, he liked to have said he would've thought of Japan and how he was never going to visit, of the novel he always wanted to write and never got to finishing it, of college and how he'd been forced to leave it without getting a second chance to find his way there.

Instead, Ryan decided to close his eyes and sleep, and let fate or death take him, whichever came first. And he began to dream.

And Ryan dreamed of battle.

He dreamed of knights and soldiers, clad in blue and dressed in armor, wearing bucklers and carrying lances, marching to war on an empty field. Cavaliers astride horses galloped forward to meet them, brandishing blades. Arrows flew, and soldiers fell, pierced in multiple places by enemy shafts.

Ryan dreamed of destruction.

He dreamed of dark spirits, flying through a burning village, its villagers either having fled or dead on the ground. He saw them chase a butterfly, trying to catch it, but as he reached out, they were already gone. Somewhere, Ryan saw the shadow of a dark dragon, roaring a roar he could not hear but felt it shake the earth, glaring at me with contemptuous red eyes as dark fire rips through the air. All around him, the world burned, but as he took all this in, a lone masked figure dashed by the young man. Male or female, Ryan couldn't tell on first glance, but he ran forward towards a column of light in the distance...

Light washed over him, and when his eyes return to normal, he saw the figure once again. He was fighting with another figure, a young man with dark-blue hair wearing a black-blue tunic with a white cloak slung over one shoulder. The swords they wielded were identical, as they swung their swords, fighting enemies only they could see. Somewhere, figures fell from a magical circle, but Ryan couldn't see what they were.

A woman, with sand-brown hair in curls and wearing a regal green robe, stood upon a cliff face, and she closed her eyes as a single tear ran down her cheek.

Colors swirled, and all of a sudden Ryan could see the young man again. He stood on the balcony of a castle, a faceless woman in a white dress holding a newborn child in her arms. He only saw it for a moment before a new vision appeared: the young man, the masked figure from before, and a new figure face off against the dragon Ryan thought he'd seen before, this one being a humongous red and blue-colored machine with a humongous two-handed sword, crackling with energy. Suddenly, two more monsters appeared next to it, a large white and gold dragon with wings made of bright blue fire, and a man in silver and gold armor, garbed in a dark blue shroud.

_Wait a minute…but that would be…_

* * *

"RAAAAAAAH!"

Chrom, clad in Gancelot's armor and astride his flying horse, flew past Ryan, swinging his Falchion at Validar, the sorcerer and Infinite Zero Dragon dodging the strikes easily as he stepped back from the flurry.

"Perfect Guard! Promethium!" Validar called out, as Barrier Star-Vader Promethium appeared to block Falchion.

"Over here, Pops!" Ryan called as he cut across, trying to flank him as Daikaiser charged the Link Joker unit, Ryan swinging his long messer as Daikaiser reared its fist for a punch. "**Daikaiser Knuckle!**"

However, Validar suddenly vanished from sight, the Dimension Robo's fist striking the empty air before dropping to the ground with a large crash, its green eyes in search of their foe. For a moment, all was silent save for Ryan's pounding heart in his ears, reversing his grip on his sword…

"Up there!" Chrom warned, pointing up. Validar had teleported to the roof, Infinite Zero Dragon standing by.

"Slash through everything with your cursed blade and cover the world with the darkness of death!" Validar intoned, a dark purple Vanguard circle washing over Infinite Zero Dragon. "Break Ride! STAR-VADER, CHAOS BREAKER DRAGON!" At once, the Infinite Zero Dragon transformed, suddenly becoming a new draconic unit, this one armed with a humongous black and red scythe. "Now, I'll lock two of your rear-guards!"

At once, Chrom's Side Flute Liberator Escrad and May Rain Liberator Bruno screamed as a black and red wave washed over them, locking them away in two dark orbs. Ryan's Dimensional Robo Daidragon and Dimensional Robo Daibrave were subject to the same fate. "Dammit!"

"Now, Chaos Breaker Dragon, attack!" The dragon unit hefted its scythe, glaring at Daikaiser and Gancelot. Validar motioned, drawing a symbol in the air as a green glow came over his vanguard. "Heal Trigger, activate! Recollection Star-Vader, Tellurium!"

The dragon roared and proceeded to unleash a blast of dark magic from his new vantage point at Chrom. Chrom tried to fly out of the way, but as the attack struck behind him, Chrom was still sent flying through the air. Snarling, Ryan took off running as well, grabbing his Valflame spellbook from within his duster, but Validar and Chaos Breaker Dragon had already vanished from sight again.

"What!?" Ryan asked, looking around. "You cheat, no teleporting!"

Suddenly, there was another blast of dark magic, this time off to his right, knocking him down under the crushing force it unleashed. Whipping his head, Ryan saw Validar had warped in behind him, striking him just barely out of his peripheral vision with the spell. The sorcerer grinned as he advanced, preparing to finish him off.

"Ryan, hang on!" Chrom galloped into Ryan's view, swinging Falchion in an attempt to block. It did the trick, allowing Ryan a chance to get up as the magical force lifted from his body, but Chrom instead received the blast Validar had prepared, sending him flying into a nearby column. Chrom struggled to get up as Validar tried the finishing spell again, but Ryan was already one step ahead of him, pointing in the space between Chrom and Validar.

"Dimensional Robo, Daishield!" A gold-armored mecha, smaller than Daikaiser but bigger than Gancelot, appeared to deflect the blow meant for Chrom. Forced to abort his plan, Validar warped again as Ryan dashed in to cover his fallen friend. Validar snorted as he reappeared some distance away, glaring at Ryan with red eyes.

Ryan smirked at him, wagging his finger at him with his free hand. "Not this time, buddy."

Chrom rejoined him, out of breath and rather beat-up, but otherwise unharmed. "You alright, Ryan?"

"Tired and out of Perfect Guards, but I'll live," Ryan replied. "Thanks for the save."

"Same to you," Chrom nodded, turning back around to face the sorcerer giving the prince and the royal tactician the stink-eye across the hall. "This is it. Our final battle. You're one of us, Ryan, and no 'destiny' can change that."

"Hah!" Ryan snorted derisively. "Destiny's for losers. Now what say we finish this guy off and call it a day? The others are waiting for us and I bet _ is cooking pizza."

_Wait a minute. Why did my hearing drop off there? I'm pretty sure someone's name was supposed to go there. _

However, Chrom didn't appear bothered by the missing name. "If we get out of this, there'll be feasting for weeks, I guarantee it! Now come, my friend! The final battle is at hand!"

"Gya ha ha ha!" cackled Validar. "Fools! Struggle all you want! You cannot unwrite what is already written!"

"We have hope in a future we write ourselves!" Ryan countered. "And I'll die before I let you destroy our hopes! Chrom, it's time!"

"Right!" Chrom agreed.

"Call! Super Dimensional Robo, Shadow Kaiser!" Another mecha, this time in a ninja motif with a bright red scarf, carrying a pair of mecha-sized kunai in his hand. Ryan then raised his right arm, which had a device strapped to it, and quickly hit one of six buttons on it, the light on it turning from green to red. "Counterblast! Shadow Kaiser, DOCKING FORMATION!"

Shadow Kaiser shot into the air, flipping through the air as it did.

"**SHADOW KAISER!**" Daikaiser shot off into the air after it. Shadow Kaiser bounced off the roof, shooting towards his compatriot, transforming into a fighter jet, the two units meeting in the middle as a bright light shone forth.

"Sweep down on the battlefield once again, solitary warrior! May your noble power rain down and become the bond of the world! Break Ride!" Chrom shouted. A bright blue Vanguard circle lit up the area, as a heavenly light shone down on Chrom, Gancelot's armor radically shifting and the Falchion now blazing bright gold. "LIBERATOR OF BONDS, GANCELOT ZENITH!"

"Space! The stars! They call for a friend! Courage brings forth justice! Justice brings forth hope! Hope becomes courage! Superior Break Ride!" Ryan added as various parts of Shadow Kaiser broke off and then reattached themselves to Daikaiser's body, the robot's red helmet suddenly being replace with a blue, more ornate version. "Enhance each other and stand tall, dimensional warriors of destiny!"

"**ULTIMATE DIMENSIONAL ROBO! GREAT! DAI! KAI! SEEEEER!**" Ryan's Vanguard boomed, a cloud of sparkling green smoke erupting behind it to finish off the transformation.

Validar roared, unleashing his magic once again. Chrom and Ryan quickly split up, the attack striking the wall behind them. "Gancelot Zenith! Limit Break!" Chrom raised Falchion as another blue Vanguard circle lit up behind him as he flew at Validar once more "Merron! Llew! Disengage!" Two more Liberators, History Liberator Merron and Future Liberator Llew, nodded and disappeared, before another blue circle appeared. "Superior Call! BLASTER BLADE LIBERATOR!"

Chrom's avatar appeared on the field, a bright gold aura emanating from it thanks to Gancelot Zenith's power. "Counterblast! Blaster Blade Liberator, retire his Interceptor!" Blaster Blade Liberator swung its sword, creating an energy wave that struck Validar's Cold Death Dragon and destroyed it. Validar attempted to cast again, but Chrom was faster, slicing off his hand with a slice from Falchion, followed up with a stab right through the chest. Validar roared in anger, shoving him away with the weapon still in his body, but it was already too late, as Ryan and Great Daikaiser had already prepared their final move.

(BGM: _A Clear Mind – Burning Palm [G Gundam])_

"Daikaiser Break Ride, ready! Triple Drive Check, standing by!" Ryan said, the remaining four lights on his wrist device shifting from green to red en masse. "HERE I GO!"

"**RAI-OH ENJOUKEN!**" Great Daikaiser held out his hand, and a massive sword resembling Ryan's suddenly appeared in its hands. A bright red aura began to expand rapidly from Ryan as he prepared his own sword.

"_This hand of mine is burning red! Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory!_" Ryan shouted. "_Ultimate Dimensional Robo Final Combo Attack: JUDGMENT ANNIHILATION!_" Great Daikaiser roared, blasting off into a charge at Validar and Chaos Breaker Dragon.

"I won't let you beat me…! Star-Vader Rejection Dragon! Quintet Wall!" Another draconian Link Joker unit quickly appeared, and five more Link Joker monsters appeared to take the oncoming attack.

"That's not going to save you!" Ryan countered. "Drive Trigger One: Grade 3! I'll be retiring that Bismuth with my Break Ride Skill!" Great Daikaiser swung the Rai-Oh Enjouken, destroying the offending unit. "And then, Double Critical Trigger! All effects to Daikaiser!" Ryan pressed a button shaped like a six-point star on the same device. Great Daikaiser roared, the Rai-Oh Enjouken now crackling with yellow energy as it blew through the remaining guardians with ease.

"No…! What have you-!?" Validar choked out, rooted to the ground in shock as Great Daikaiser prepared to swing its sword for the finishing blow.

"**AND NOW…HEAT END!**" Ryan and Daikaiser boomed, the two of them swinging their swords in tandem. Chaos Breaker Dragon split clean in two before vanishing, and a humongous laceration almost split Validar the same way, blood and dark purple flame flying everywhere.

(_BGM ends_)

"Eat your heart out, Domon Kasshu," Ryan cracked, sheathing his sword.

Chrom grinned, but suddenly, something caught their attention, as he and Ryan turned around and saw a somehow-still-alive Validar on his knees, glaring at the two of them.

"Ggh…this isn't over!" Validar snarled, blazing dark magic. "DAMN YOU BOTH!" With that, Validar unleashed one final spell right at Chrom, a final parting shot to take Chrom to Hellgates with him.

Chrom turned around and saw it coming, but even with the reaction time of a cricket, Chrom would not have been able to get out of the way. With nothing else for it, Ryan shoved him back with a hip toss, putting the Dimension Police fighter in the way of the incoming strike instead. This time, the attack smashed into Ryan with almighty force, sending him right to the ground and Great Daikaiser vanishing into the aether.

"Ryan!" Chrom dashed towards his fallen ally, helping Ryan into a sitting position. "Are you alright?"

For a moment, Ryan did not reply, his head and ears buzzing and his eyes trying to refocus after the blow. But then his senses resumed their natural state, and he simply gave Chrom a thumbs-up. Chrom grinned, jerking his head in the direction of Validar's body, which disappeared as the embers of his last gasp attack faded away with his body. "We did it. Thanks to you, we were able to carry the day."

"Hooray…!" Ryan gave a tired cheer. "Now, could you get me up, please? You promised a week-long feast and I'm not about to miss it…or _ for that matter."

_Again with the drop off in my hearing! I really should see a healer about that._

Chrom grinned. "I don't intend to disappoint. We can rest easy, now that…"

Ryan, however, didn't hear the rest, as suddenly, the buzzing in his head intensified with a heavy-handed throb, and his vision turned blood red. "What the-!?"

"What's wrong?" Chrom asked.

"Get away from me!" Ryan shouted. He was hearing things like he was underwater, and his head was absolutely killing him, even as he tried to think his way through what Validar had done to him with that last attack, even as his body convulsed against his will.

Despite his warning, however, Chrom stayed nearby. "Ryan, what's wrong!? Talk to me, friend-ulk!"

Chrom grimaced, and blood washed over Ryan's duster and Vanguard gloves, hot through the material and against his skin. At once, Ryan's symptoms vanished, but then he saw what happened…somehow, Ryan had stabbed Chrom right through his stomach with his messer.

He just killed Chrom with his own weapon.

Ryan just committed cold-blooded murder of the man he just fought alongside.

Chrom fell over, the last vestiges of shock still on his face fading away replaced with stoic resignation, even as the blood drained from Ryan's face to be replaced with panicked numbness. "Chrom!" Ryan quickly caught him before he hit his head on the stone floor, the blood from Chrom's mortal wound seeping everywhere. "Chrom, I'm so sorry! Oh man oh man oh man oh man…oh sweet Jesus, what have I done!?"

"This…isn't your fault…" Chrom groaned, blood dribbling out his mouth.

"Don't try to talk, just try and stay with me!" Ryan said, removing his duster and quickly folding it to help staunch the bleeding, but as he tried to yank out the sword out of his body, Chrom stopped him, grabbing his wrist. "Chrom, please!"

"Just…promise me…you'll escape from this place…please, go…!" Chrom said, before his grip on Ryan fell away and his head lolled to one side in his lap. Chrom was dead.

He was dead, and Ryan killed him.

"No…Chrom, no…Chrom, don't do this to me! CHROM! CHROOOOOOOM!" Ryan shouted, panic being replaced with absolute despair as, somewhere in it all, he could hear all of hell laughing in derision…

* * *

_For as traumatic as seeing such an event was, that event wouldn't come into play until later. Much later, actually. And while I would later learn the reason why that was so, as well as why I even saw it anyway, a few things still float around in my head as to how I was able to see it in the middle of that void. But we'll get to that later. _

_At this point, though, all I could think of that wasn't "what in the bluish flaming hell did I just see?" is "what's going to happen to me?" I honestly that I would die, you know. And not only was it long before I had accomplished anything I had wanted to do, there wouldn't be anyone around to mourn my passing. That really stings in a way. _

_But, lucky for me (and probably all of us, for that matter), that wasn't the end, but in fact, a new beginning for all of us. _

_And thus does our story begin._


	2. Prologue: The Verge of History

**Prologue: The Verge of History**

"Chrom…we have to do _something_…"

"…what do you propose we do?"

"I…I dunno…"

Ryan started to open his eyes, feeling like he'd just come down with a bad case of the flu. There were two figures in front of him, one most likely a female considering she had two crazy pigtails in her hair, but the other he couldn't make out because of the very bright light that was obscuring their faces. Eventually, his eyes adjusted as the light gave way to blue skies, and I was able to see them properly. One was a young girl with dirty-blonde hair in two pigtails, wearing a yellow dress and carrying a short stave. The other was a dark blue-haired man in a black tunic and pants, with a silver shoulder guard on his left shoulder with a white cape that hung off it.

_So I'm alive. Hallelujah_. Then came the splitting headache. "Oooow…yeesh…"

"I see you're awake now," says the young man, turning his head towards me.

"Hey there…" says the girl, leaning over to look at me.

"Hey…hi…um…" was all Ryan could manage around his throbbing head. That, and it felt like he'd been asleep for a while, so his mind wasn't completely at the ready.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," the young man said, offering his hand. "Give me your hand."

Ryan reached up, grabbing the man's hand with his right. As he did, though, he noticed there was a strange mark on the back of it, three pairs of eyes in a V-formation._ That's weird, where did I get that?_ Any further musings were put aside, though, as Ryan was hauled to his feet by my new friend. Ryan observed that his new friend had some serious strength, as he taller than him and probably more heavy-set. Taking stock of his new surroundings, Ryan observed he was in a large meadow on a pretty countryside, like something he would see in a picture book. He also spotted a third figure nearby, standing at ease next to a horse, a Great Knight if his memory served…

_Wait. How _do _I know that guy's a Great Knight? I've never even met him!_

"These were nearby. Are they yours?" the girl held out Ryan's glasses.

"Probably…" Ryan said, donning them. At once, everything past the Great Knight seemed to be in focus. "Yup. Thanks."

The girl beamed. "No problem."

"You alright?" the first guy asked him.

"Yeah. My head's killing me, but I'll live," Ryan replied, massaging the center of his forehead. "Thanks for the help, Chrom."

"Ah, then you know who I am?" Chrom said with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Yes…no…maybe?" Ryan replied hesitantly. "It just…came off the tongue…" Internally, his mind was going into hyperdrive. _Wait a minute. Chrom. That name. I've heard it before! That guy I was fighting alongside was named Chrom…then that would mean this is the guy that…I'm going to murder…_

_Damn. Damn. Damn damn._

"Hm. How curious," observed Chrom. "Tell me, what's your name and what brings you here?"

"My name is…is…" Ryan began, faltered, and stopped, already beginning to get the deer-in-headlights look. _Oh God, I can't remember my name. How could I forget my goddamn name? Geez, this Chrom guy must think I'm a complete idiot!_

"You don't remember your own name?" Chrom asks.

"Look, Chrom, I don't know what's going on right now, my head is one great big mess of pain and I can't think straight worth a lick," Ryan said back, trying to backpedal. "So…I dunno if I forgot it or…hell, I don't even know where I am."

"I've heard of this!" the girl chirped. "It's called amnesia!"

_Oh man, amnesia? What a fine time to have amnesia. _Ryan groaned in his mind.

"It's called a load of pegasus dung," the Great Knight said from his position nearby. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"

"Really?" Ryan asked, giving the Great Knight a dull glare. "Well, why don't you tell me how good your memory is when you feel like you took a hatchet to the skull!"

Chrom quickly cut into the conversation before Ryan said something that would make situation worse. "…well, what if it IS true, Frederick? We can't leave him here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

"Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution," said Frederick. "'twould not do to let a wolf into our flock."

Chrom nodded. "Right then…we'll take him back to town and sort this out there."

"Whoa, whoa. Are you deciding all this for me? If I could be so kind as to interject…" Ryan began.

"Peace, friend. I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come," Chrom said reassuringly.

Ryan sighed. "Well, when you put it like that…"

* * *

The trip was largely a quiet one. Chrom and his lady friend took the lead down the beaten path towards some nearby hamlet I can see over the tops of the hills. Ryan was in the middle, with Frederick on sweep, ostensibly to kill him if he sensed any kind of funny business. Ryan guessed someone needed to be the skeptic in this Scooby-Doo outfit, but if Fredrick glared at him any more than he has already, he was going crisp off all Ryan's hairs on the back on his neck.

"…so, what is the nature of our current relationship, anyhow?" Ryan asked. "Am I like a prisoner of war or something?"

Chrom laughed. "Hah! You'll be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse."

"Ii-lisse?" Ryan tilted his head. "I take it this is where I've ended up, then."

"You've never heard of the halidom?" Frederick, asked from behind him. "Ha! Someone pay this actor. He plays _quite_ the fool. The furrowed brow is _especially _convincing…"

"You're such a killjoy," grunted Ryan.

"Frederick, please," Chrom sighed. "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt. That said, I suppose proper introductions are in order. My name is Chrom…but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa," Chrom gestured to the girl next to him.

"I am NOT delicate!" Lissa snapped at her brother, pouting. "Hmph!" Turning to Ryan, her pout was replaced with a sweet smile. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

"Shepherds? You tend sheep? …dressed in full armor?" Ryan asked. The question already felt stupid off his tongue.

Chrom simply gave a snort and a smile. "Heh, it's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here."

"A title I shall bear with pride," said Fredrick, smiling probably for the first time today as he took a little bow. "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution."

Ryan groaned, kneading the bridge of my nose. "I know you're only doing your job, man, but could you not be so condescending about it? You're starting to sound like my mother."

"I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise," Frederick countered solemnly.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Relax," Ryan said, trying to change the subject. "…the name's Ryan. Ryan King." There was a slight pause as Ryan suddenly realized what he did. "Oh wait, did I just remember my name, finally? Yay me."

"Ryan…King? Is it foreign?" asked Chrom.

"Probably is. I mean, look what he's wearing! I don't think any Ylisseans dress like he does!" Lissa said.

Chrom chided Lissa for being rude, but internally Ryan concurred with her statement. Compared to Frederick, who looked like he's from _A Knight's Tale _with his plate armor, Ryan's clothes were very radically different, with his black Arizona Coyotes shirt, dark wash jeans, and black and red wushu shoes. But something else caught his attention, something that he was not expecting: a strange white and red device, strapped to his forearm. It kind of reminded him of Guy Shishioh's bracelet, except it was in the shape of a wolf's head instead of a lion, and with a lot more buttons.

"…ah well, we can discuss it later," Chrom dismisses it, calling Ryan away from his self-discovery. "We're almost to town. Once we…"

"Chrom, look! The town!" Lissa suddenly cut in, pointing over the hill. The town the group had been approaching had the tell-tale smoke of fires burning, and not something isolated.

"Jesus Helsinki Christ…" Ryan muttered, genuflecting. Fredrick stared at him, and Ryan gave him a look and shrug of "what?" in turn.

"Damn it! The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt…" Chrom snarls. "Frederick! Lissa! Quickly!"

"What about him?" asked Frederick, gesturing towards Ryan.

"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!" Chrom snapped.

Frederick didn't even flinch. "Aptly put, milord."

"Let's go already!" said Lissa.

"Whoa, hey, don't just…leave me…" Ryan began, but they were already gone before he could finish. "Dammit." For a moment Ryan stood there, watching them run towards the town, before Ryan returned his attention to the device. Six buttons with lights on it, and four more buttons, each in a differing color of yellow, red, green, and blue. What exactly it was supposed to be, Ryan couldn't guess. As he put his hands in his pockets, he found something inside: a pair of Vanguard gloves, also colored sedona red.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Ryan's head stood up. Someone was nearby. "Who's there?"

No reply. As Ryan turned around, he suddenly saw something there: a ghostly steel robot with red armor plating and a red helmet, an Obari-style face, an yellow wing-style accenting on its shoulders and thighs. Two mech-sized pistols were attached to its hip plates.

"_At long last we meet, traveler of another world,_" the robot said.

"…well, that clinches it. I'm still home, I just hit my head against a rock going through the portal, concussed myself, and now I'm hallucinating," Ryan said, throwing up his hands.

"_Why do you doubt your eyes?_" the mech asked.

"Why? Because I'm having a conversation with a possibly-not-real Dimensional Robo Kaizard," Ryan replied. "Who sounds suspiciously like Volfogg from GaoGaiGar."

"_I am real, in a way. I am your Avatar._"

"Avatar?" Ryan asked. The term was familiar, if only because of his intimate knowledge of the Vanguard anime. "Like how Blaster Blade is Aichi's avatar?"

"_An Avatar is a representation of you. I am a reflection of your soul, a reflection of your style as pertains to the ways of the Vanguard."_

"Take that as a yes, then," Ryan deadpanned. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure, your Avatar-ness?" Kaizard merely smiled, before starting to fade from sight. "Oy! Don't go!"

"_Go to your friends. They need your help,_" was all Kaizard said before he vanished from sight.

Ryan groaned, turning back to the burning village that Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa had dashed off to. He then looked down at his wrist device, taking a second look at the buttons, namely the yellow button shaped like a six-pointed star. It looked like the critical symbol in Vanguard. That couldn't be coincidence. But what could it mean?

There was the sound of a few screams in the distance. Ryan looked up, then clenched his fist.

"Ah, to hell with it!"

* * *

"Gwa ha ha! Get to it lads!" the brigand leader cackled from his position outside the church, flinging one of his torches through the stained glass. "Grab anything shiny and put the rest to the torch! We gots an example to set for these Ylissean types! Ain't that right, lass!" he added to a fallen maiden not far away, as he went to grab her.

"S-stay away from me! Please! Someone! HEEELP!" the maiden screamed, noticing the sinister look in the man's eyes. Thankfully, Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick came in right in the nick of time, drawing Garrick's attention off the maiden as they entered from the southwest part of the market square.

"Hey boss!" A nearby ruffian called. "We got company by the market!"

"Wannabe heroes, huh? Take 'em out and then get back to work!" Garrick called, his attention swayed long enough for the maiden to beat a hasty retreat from the area.

"Chrom, we have to stop them!" said Lissa.

"Don't worry. After today, these bandits won't be bothering anyone ever again," Chrom said solemnly, drawing his sword.

Ryan dashed through the gate and past burning buildings, already tasting the acrid smoke in his mouth as it entered through his nose. Bandits wreaked havoc throughout the village, but in the middle of the chaos, Ryan managed to slip through without any of them noticing him in the chaos. By the look of things, these brigands had only shown up a little ahead of them. Hopefully Chrom and the others, and Ryan himself, by extension, weren't too late. Rounding the corner through a not-burning alley, Ryan spot Chrom and the others ahead. "Oy! Chrom!"

"Ryan!" Chrom spotted him and quickly came over. "You followed us! Why?"

"You're gonna need my help clearing these guys out. I'm no expert in battles, but I do know a little something-something when it comes to swords," Ryan replied breathlessly. "So please, add my strength to yours…that is how you say it in Ylisse, right?"

Chrom nodded in understanding. "Of course, strength in numbers. Just stay near me!"

"Will do," Ryan said. Honestly, Ryan had also neglected to tell them he was already feeling a bit funny in his stomach at the prospect of fighting, but he was already committed to helping out, so there was no going back now.

"Remember, Ryan, we face practiced thieves and murderers," Frederick said, pulling out a lance from a nearby saddlebag as Chrom tossed Ryan a sword. "They will grant us no quarter. It's kill or be killed."

"Got it. Wasn't expecting them to, anyway," Ryan nodded.

"This is what we'll do: we cover this marketplace in two groups. I'll take Lissa and head around this side of the marketplace," Chrom said, gesturing to a nearby market stall and pointing across from us with his sword. "Frederick, you'll take Ryan and cut across, so we can take them on two sides. If you get hurt, call for Lissa and she'll help you."

Ryan wondered about how Lissa will help when she's armed with a staff compared to the swords Chrom and he had, but a look at the young girl before him suddenly granted him knowledge that she was a Cleric, much like how Frederick was a Great Knight. _Okay, that make sense…sort of. _

"Frederick, I assume you'll keep Ryan safe and assist him if necessary?" Chrom asked his Great Knight retainer.

"I am," Frederick said. Ryan didn't exactly feel confident in the Great Knight's answer, but voiced no objection.

"Very well! Good luck!" Chrom said, taking off with Lissa down the way as Frederick takes the lead across the square with Ryan close behind him.

Hoping that Frederick wouldn't be able to hear, Ryan quickly whispered a question. "Oy, Kaizard…what is it I'm supposed to do with you?"

"What!? Ylissean knights!?" Ryan heard someone shout on the other side of a stall, blocking out anything Kaizard might have had to say. One of the brigands, a Myrmidon, apparently saw Chrom coming with his weapon, and tried to fend him off, but he missed wildly with his katana and got treated to a well-timed slash to the chest. Ryan dashed forward, hoping to finish the man off himself, but Frederick was faster, as his horse surged past him and gutted the man on his lance, quickly returning to a resting position by the time I joined them there.

"You kids got a lot of nerve getting in on our party…" growls an axe wielder nearby, quickly covering the distance between us with designs on going after Lissa, but Ryan quickly intervened, drawing the sword in his hand.

"Because it needs to be shut down before you break any more lamps!" Ryan retorted, quickly trying to lunge at him, but he didn't so much as dodge as bull him aside with his shoulder, staggering him, before swinging his axe. Ryan threw himself backwards to dodge, but it wasn't fast enough as the strike ended up hitting his shoulder. Pain surged through Ryan's off-arm as a sickening squelch signaled the hit, and as Ryan screamed in pain, he tried to counter with a move of his own, but Chrom was faster, chopping into the man's spine from his flanking position near me. As he falls to his knees, Ryan thrusted into his chest, finishing him off.

There. He had done it. First kill. And already Ryan's stomach surged into overdrive at the smell of blood in the air and the sight of his own around the axe still buried in his shoulder, but Ryan tried to hold it in as Chrom put his arm around him, saying something muddled in his throbbing ears. Chrom then yanked the axe out of Ryan's shoulder and tossed it away, letting blood flow freely down his sleeve and arm, the pain in Ryan's body skyrocketing higher. "Lissa! Ryan needs help!"

Lissa dutifully came dashing over and raised her staff, pointing it at his shoulder as Ryan struggled to maintain his footing in Chrom's arms. The wound burned for a moment or two, and then he could feel it close up as energy surges through my body, giving him a bit of rejuvenation. Chrom lets go, and thankfully Ryan stayed upright, although his stomach wasn't feel much better.

"Are you okay?" Lissa asks. "Feeling better?"

"My arm feels better…but my stomach? Ask me again in ten minutes," Ryan said breathlessly, trying to stave off his eventual vomiting for after it was over.

"Just keep breathing, friend," said Chrom. "We're not out of the woods yet."

Ryan groaned. "How many more?"

"Two, maybe three."

"GREAT," I snark.

One of the two or three showed up, a man garbed in a red cloak and a floppy hat and carrying a book. "This oughta shut you up! Fire!"

Fire erupted from a magical circle, zipping past Ryan's head. Frederick answered the attack by taking his horse forward into a charge, and silenced the mage with another stab of his lance. Chrom took Ryan and Lissa onward after Frederick, as another Myrmidon comes in, this time going right for Ryan. He backpedaled, trying to keep his rapier pointed at him, and when he slashed, this time he caught him in a parry. As he broke off for another attacked, Ryan lunged, this time jabbing his swordpoint into his throat for a fatal wound. The man fell over dead instantly.

"Well done, Ryan!" Chrom said as he came back with the others.

"I am so not used to this," Ryan sighed, crossing the bridge to the church where the bandit leader was still trying to maintain an offensive, but his guys were wheat before the scythe that was Frederick.

Chrom clapped Ryan on the back, which made him nearly retch under his steadily churning stomach. "You've lent us your strength, Ryan, and that makes you a friend. Having an ally by my side gives me courage."

Ryan nodded blithely, but suddenly the leader got his attention. "Here, sheepy sheepy! Come to the slaughter, 'cause Garrick's getting hungry!"

"You are goddamn charming," Ryan grunted.

"This battle is over. Your men have been crushed and you're outnumbered. If you surrender now, then you will be treated fairly," Chrom declared, pointing his sword at Garrick.

"Bah! I'm not about to just roll over and die because some princeling wants to play hero!" Garrick retorted, a bright orange aura beginning to spread around him, forming into a large circle with an eight-point circle in the center. "Stand up, Vanguard! Military Dragon Raptor Soldier!"

The circle gave way to a pillar of light. When the light subsided, there was now a small deinonychus dinosaur with sedona red armor plating, standing behind Garrick.

"Uh oh…!" Lissa said.

"Take cover!" shouted Chrom.

Everyone scattered as Raptor Soldier pounced on Ryan, who was too slow to get away. The dinosaur roared in his face, rearing its head back for a decisive bite.

"Stand up, Vanguard! Wingal Liberator!" Suddenly, the Raptor was tackled to the ground as a blue blur came flying out of the blue. Ryan coughed, looking over at the raptor and the thing that saved him, a blue-furred dog in golden armor, a dagger in its mouth and a tuft of fur on its head that looked very similar to Chrom's hair.

"…Chrom!?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, you must escape! This foe is beyond you now!" the Wingal Liberator said, his voice identical to Chrom's. "Lissa, take Ryan and get him somewhere safe! Frederick!"

"At once, milord!" Frederick said, an identical beige circle lighting up above Frederick. "Stand up, Vanguard! Crimson Lion Cub, Kryph!" At once, Frederick's armor rapidly changed color, shifting from beige and steel blue to red and black, with small hints of gold. His sword also changed shape, now resembling a falchion instead of a traditional arming sword. "Charge!" Frederick galloped into the fray, charging at Garrick and the Raptor Soldier, but the two of them collided and broke apart, neither one getting a strike on the other.

"Stand up, Vanguard! First Aid Celestial, Penuel!" Meanwhile, Lissa, her yellow dress suddenly transformed into a shorter white dress, and there were now two large golden hoops in her hair to go with her twintails, two bright blue wings on her back, and her staff was replaced with a first-aid kit, had made it to Ryan and quickly started pulling him into cover behind the railing of a bridge, a bright yellow vanguard circle appearing over her. "You alright, Ryan?"

"What in the bluish flaming hell is even going on right now!?" Ryan shouted, a bit more ill-tempered than he would've liked.

"Um…I'd like to explain, but I need to help my brother!" Lissa said, quickly crossing the bridge. Ryan could only watch in confusion as she left. At the same time, another round of bandits came charging in from another part of town, apparently attracted by the commotion.

Garrick motioned in another direction with hatchet. "Go get back to work in the next district!" The brigands nodded and began to head off.

"Damn..." cursed Chrom. "Frederick! Go head them off!"

"I cannot leave you to fight for yourself!" Frederick countered.

"And yet we cannot be in two places at once. Go! We'll be fine here!"

"...as you wish! Ha!" Frederick turned his horse around, transforming as he galloped after the bandits. "Vanguard Ride! Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth!"

"So I get the princeling and the little girl? Fair enough! Vanguard Ride! Military Dragon, Raptor Sergeant!" Raptor Soldier suddenly grew in size, its claws now beginning to glow with energy. "Call! Supply Dragon Brachioporter!" a gray-black armored brachiosaurus appeared behind Raptor Sergeant, laden down with rockets and cannons. "Now, give them a good fireworks show!"

Brachioporter unleashed its payload, sending cannon fire and missiles every which way in its attempt to hit them. Then Raptor Sergeant swung its claws, leaving a trail of plasma that struck the artillery fire and detonated it, showering Chrom and Lissa in explosions. As the smoke cleared, the two dashed out, alright starting to glow themselves.

"Vanguard Ride! Liberator, Holy Acolyte!" Chrom transformed back into a human form, now garbed in dark blue and gold robes and gold gauntlets. However, much like his standard clothes, his right sleeve was missing, displaying his birth mark and he was still carrying his sword. In a flash of light, Wingal Liberator appeared behind him, running alongside him with dagger prepared. "Wingal Liberator, let's go!"

"Vanguard Ride! Underlay Celestial, Hesediel!" Lissa's clothes transformed as well, switching to a lavender-colored nurse's uniform, her staff being replaced with a sword. Penuel also reappeared behind her, hovering to her right. "Call! Thousand Ray Pegasus!" A white Pegasus with a white hat and surrounded by floating syringes appeared behind Lissa. She quickly jumped onto her new ally, swinging her sword. "Now, Critical Trigger, activate! Punishment Celestial, Samyaza!"

Lissa's blade glowed bright yellow, flying past Garrick to strike him, but then his Vanguard began to burn bright red. "Draw Trigger! Carry Trilobite!"

Chrom frowned, skidding to a halt. Wingal Liberator growled behind him, clearly miffed at missing an opportunity to attack. Garrick smirked. "Good try, but you're not getting to me that easily! Vanguard Ride! Military Dragon Raptor Captain!" The Vanguard grew in size again, now the size of an allosaur, with two large cannons mounted to its flanks. A Raptor Sergeant suddenly appeared off to the side. "Call! Assault Dragon Circular Spino! Ancient Dragon Iguanagorg!" A steel blue and red spinosaur with a large blade mounted to its back appeared in front of the Raptor Sergeant, and on the other side of the Raptor Sergeant came an iguanadon in golden Aztec-esque armor.

Ryan peeked out from his hiding place to observe the battle. _He's got all the pieces in place…the Tachikaze clan focus on retiring Rear-guards to gain power and activate the retired unit's effects. If they take out that Assault Spino early, then they can stop him before he inflicts more damage…_

"Brachioporter! Raptor Captain! Take them!" Raptor Captain took aim at the group, firing with his laser cannons, and Brachioporter fired another round of artillery.

"Samyaza! Guard!" Yet another angel in a white dress, blonde and carrying an oversized syringe, got in front of Lissa and Chrom.

"Critical Trigger! Ancient Dragon Dinodile!" Despite the activation, nothing changed about the blast, and Samyaza absorbed it in full. However, Ryan had spotted where the trigger had gone.

"Chrom! It's a trap! He used the effect on the Assault Spino!" he shouted.

"What?" Chrom asked, turning back to Ryan.

Garrick saw an opportunity and took it. "Assault Spino! Raptor Sergeant! Attack them now!" The Assault Spino roared and launched his glowing yellow spine blade. The blade sliced through them both and hacked right through the thing Ryan was hiding behind, suddenly exposing his head.

"Jesus-!" Ryan flopped right to the ground, watching the blade boomerang back around. Meanwhile the Raptor Sergeant had leapt into the fray, slicing its claws into Lissa. Lissa screamed and fell to the ground, clutching at the gashes on her body.

"Lissa!" Chrom shouted, quickly trying to shield her with his body, even though he was also seriously wounded by the same attack.

"And now I'm going to end this…" Garrick said. "Brachiocarrier, Iguanadon, knock them out! We'll see if we can make good slaves out of them…!"

"What?" Chrom looked to his left. Sure enough, Brachioporter had disappeared, and now there was an even larger brachiosaur there, aiming two very large cannons at the two of them, while Iguanagorg had somehow leapt onto Brachiocarrier's, scurrying up the dinodragon's neck to leap off its head. Chrom lifted his sword, prepared for the final blow.

And from his prone position on the road, Ryan could see it all. And he had a horrible premonition. "Oh, HELL NO!" Suddenly throwing caution to the wind, Ryan took off running, his mind racing.

There was no logical reason for it.

There was no logical reason why he was here.

There was no logical reason why the game was real.

And yet, here he was. And yet, the game was real.

And even if the game was real, and admittedly rather different to the game he was used to, it was still a game he knew.

Therefore, the only logical thing he could do in this situation was to start playing.

"STAND UP, O VANGUARD! DIMENSIONAL ROBO, GOYUSHA!"

The cannons fired, but Chrom didn't feel the impact. He definitely heard it impact something, though. Looking up, he saw Ryan in front of them both, arms spread. And above him was a simply massive steel robot, twice the size of many of the houses nearby but still slightly smaller than Garrick's Vangaurd. It was blue-armored, with a number 1 on its chest, and it carried a sword and a large red shield with a green boss.

"Sorry for the wait, Chrom," Ryan said, giving them a grin crooked with pain.

"Ryan…what…that Vanguard…" Chrom said, looking up at Goyusha.

"Yeah, I play Dimension Police. It's always been my favored Clan," Ryan beamed. "Can't go wrong with giant robot awesomeness!"

"Who the hell are you!?" Garrick shouted.

Ryan turned to Garrick, still grinning. "Who am I? I'm just an average guy from Southern California passing through. Ryan King's the name. Dimension Police is my game. And I am about to lay down the law!" There was an awkward silence that fell over the fight. Ryan eventually sagged, hanging his head. "Well, can't blame a guy for trying to sound cool on his first run…"

"Raptor Captain!" Raptor Captain unleashed another blast of energy at Ryan and Goyusha. Goyusha raised its shield, blocking the attack easily.

"Okay then! Put on your dancing shoes, because I'm kicking off the Drift! Vanguard Ride! Dimensional Robo Daibrave!" Ryan raised his hand to the air, Goyusha beginning to glow and transform. Eventually, a new robot appeared in its place, sleek and colored gleaming silver, with a pair of arm-mounted shortswords. Goyusha then reappeared behind Daibrave as Ryan pointed off to his right, two more circles lighting up next to him. "Call! Dimensional Robo Daitiger! Dimensional Robo Daimariner!"

At once, a large yellow-orange mechanical tiger with knives mounted to its shoulders appeared, and behind it, a blue and white hovercraft with the number 4 on it. "Daibrave! Goyusha! Let's take this guy to town!" The two mechs charged forward, aided by their booster rockets as Ryan reached out and pressed the yellow button on his wrist device. "Critical Trigger! Dimensional Robo Daibattles!"

Both Daibrave and Daitiger began to glow with yellow energy, but it was Daibrave who struck first, its arm blades suddenly engaging as it struck Raptor Captain. "**Brave Slasher!**"

"**Dimension Saber!**" Goyusha was quick to follow up, swinging his sword against Raptor Captain. Ryan charged in, swinging his sword at Garrick, but Garrick quickly blocked it on the head of his hatchet, then gave Ryan a solid punch to the face, forcing him to disengage.

"Daitiger! Daimariner! Take Raptor Captain!" Ryan pointed at Garrick with his sword. Daitiger roared and took off, Daimariner right behind.

"Guard! Dinodile!" A crocodilian dinosaur suddenly appeared, snarling at the two oncoming mechs. The two monsters jumped back to their initial positions as Ryan hefted his sword.

"This whole thing is becoming more trouble than its worth, but I know I can at least take you! Vanguard Ride!" Raptor Captain glowed and increased, now becoming the size of a full tyrannosaur with even more cannons mounted on it than before. "Military Dragon Raptor Colonel!"

"…oh, Jesus Helsinki Christ on a pogo stick…" Ryan said. Even Daibrave and Goyusha were looking particularly small compared to the cannon-laded dinodragon before them.

"Raptor Colonel, attack the new guy and his toy!" Garrick ordered. Light began to blossom in the monster's cannons, preparing for its next move. "Critical Trigger! Dragon Bird Fire Pteryx!"

Raptor Colonel let fly, unleashing a humongous flurry of laser fire in all directions. Ryan barely had time to touch the red button on his wrist device before the attacks struck Daibrave and both of them were flung backwards by the blow. "Draw Trigger! Dimensional Robo Daicrane!"

It did the trick, as Daibrave, now glowing bright red, swiftly recovered, backsliding just shy of where Chrom and Lissa were. "That was close," Ryan sighed.

"Oh really? Let's see you survive this! Assault Spino, Raptor Sergeant, take another slice out of him!"

"Guard! Daibattles!" Another vehicle, a blue and red Formula-1 race car with a number two on it, suddenly skidded out in front of the two dinosaurs, absorbing their combined blade and claws before vanishing as well. However, Garrick came lunging in with his axe. Ryan saved himself from a lethal blow with a parry, but it was an awkward one and it still caught him in his side. With another squelch, Garrick pulled his axe free and attempted to finish him off with a blow to the head, but another sword quickly came in and blocked the attack.

"Chrom-!?"

"Here's how it's done!" Chrom executed a quick skirmishing move, shoving the axe head away and then unleashed a mighty kick to throw Garrick backward.

Ryan gave Chrom a wave. "Thanks for the save."

"Thank you for the protection," Chrom nodded.

"Lissa?"

"I've treated her wounds with some vulnerary. She'll be joining us once she's caught her breath."

"Good to know," Ryan said, giving a relieved sigh. "…you want to double team him?"

"Didn't think you'd ask."

"VANGUARD RIDE!" Chrom and Ryan began to glow in their respective colored auras, Chrom bright blue, Ryan bright red. Chrom's robes were replaced with a white and gold suit of armor, his right sleeve and shoulder guard missing and his dark blue hair just barely visible under a pointed helm. A long white cape formed behind him and his sword took on a new shape, though its motif remained.

"Blaster Blade Liberator!" Chrom declared, hoisting his sword in the air.

Ryan's Vanguard, however, now resembled the mecha that had appeared to him before coming to the village, now armed with its twin guns. "**Dimension Robo! KAIZARD!**"

Garrick pulled out a second hatchet, motioning to his enemies. "Bring it!"

"Bring it, you say? …okay, but you asked for it!" Ryan grinned, pointing off to his other side. "Dimensional Robo, Daimariner!" An identical boat unit appeared on Ryan's other side. "Now, Goyusha! Activate your ability! SUPER DIMENSIONAL ROBO, DAIKAISER! IT'S SHOWTIME!"

Goyusha, Daitiger, and the two Daimariners suddenly began to blaze with golden light before they all shot in to Kaizard. Kaizard suddenly began to change, becoming even larger as his chest plate suddenly took on the form of a green diamond, and his helmet transformed to include a fanged faceplate. "**Super Dimensional Robo! DAI! KAI! SEEEER!**"

"You're not the only one with an ability, Ryan! Counterblast! Let's get rid of that Assault Spino!" Chrom suddenly reversed his sword and jammed it into the ground, unleashing a wave of energy that struck the spinosaur and dispersed it in a burst of sparkles.

"Nice one, Chrom! Getting rid of his Assault Spino gets rid of that retiring skill as well as an interceptor unit," Ryan said approvingly. "Now I can get into attack mode! Daikaiser, let's go!"

Daikaiser shot forward as Ryan took the lead, rearing back its fist for a mighty blow. "**Daikaiser Knuckle!**"

"Ancient Dragon Paraswall! Perfect Guard!" Suddenly, a black parasaurolophus appeared, the duck-billed dinosaur suddenly raising a transparent blue wall of energy that blocked Daikaiser's fist.

"Wingal Liberator!" Chrom dashed forward with Wingal Liberator, lunging with their blades in an attempt to take Garrick by surprise.

"Guard! Fire Pteryx!" A multicolored-ostritch like creature laden with missile launchers suddenly got in Chrom's way, unleashing missiles in all directions. Chrom swung his sword, creating an arc of energy that sliced through the hail of missiles. As they detonated, Wingal Liberator came flying in, destroying the Fire Pteryx with one slice of its dagger. "Nice try, princeling!"

"I'm not done yet! Geraint! Bruno!" Chrom's archer suddenly popped up from behind one of the doors of the church, aiming his bow. On the other side, another Liberator, dark-skinned with red hair and carrying a large halberd, suddenly closed the distance. The two of them struck Raptor Colonel with their pincer attack, and then promptly returned to Chrom's side, ready to defend. Garrick gave a shout, a strike high on his shoulder suddenly manifesting much like the claw wounds Lissa received.

_Note to self: brace for incoming wounds if you can't guard_, Ryan thought grimly.

"Brachiocarrier! Iguanagorg! Take the Liberators out first!" The two dinosaurs turned toward Chrom again. Brachiocarrier fired its cannons once more as Iguanagorg charged forward, swinging its arm blades. Chrom deflected the Iguanagorg's attack, but still took the brachiosaur's attack, shoving him backward as he attempted to stay upright.

"Now, Raptor Colonel! Let's finish them off right now! Limit Break!" Garrick's Vanguard roared, a Vanguard circle lighting up the sky. Brachiocarrier and Raptor Captain suddenly roared out as a couple of meteors fell from the sky and struck them, making them disappear into sparkles.

"What!? Did he destroy his own rear-guards?" Chrom asked.

"Raptor Colonel's Limit Break retires two rear-guards then gives it their combined power!" Ryan said. "We've got major incoming!"

"BLAST 'EM ALL!" Garrick shouted. The dinodragon roared, unleashing a multicolored blast every which way. "Critical Trigger! Ancient Dragon Dinodile!"

"Number one! Raise shields!" Ryan shouted, pointing in front of him. "Perfect Guard! Dimensional Robo Daishield!"

"Perfect Guard! Halo Liberator Mark!" Chrom echoed.

Two more units, one a golden mecha and the other a red-armored warrior, quickly got in the way of the attack, summoning a wall of energy to deflect Raptor Colonel's barrage.

"Circular Spino! Raptor Sergeant!" The spinosaur unleashed its spine blade again, this one glowing bright yellow like before.

_Crap, he did it again! _Ryan thought, raising his arms to protect himself from the incoming blow.

"Perfect Guard! Halo Shield, Mark!"

The same red-armored warrior Chrom summoned suddenly got in the way, absorbing the blow with a wall of yellow energy as opposed to the blue energy it summoned for Chrom. Chrom looked around, and then saw a familiar form galloping in on his horse. "Frederick!"

"Woohoo! Cavalry has arrived in style!" Ryan cheered.

"It is good to see you still well," said Frederick with a nod. Frederick was now in a suit of red and gold armor himself, although he didn't appear to be carrying any weapons. He was accompanied by Kryph and a blue-haired woman in silver armor, carrying a longbow.

"Don't forget about me!" Lissa suddenly came bounding in with Penuel and Thousand Ray Pegasus.

"Lissa! Good to see you're back on your feet!" said Ryan.

"You bet! Now it's time for me to inflict some payback!" Lissa said with a grin.

Garrick glared, staring at his gathered enemies. "You…fine! Come one at a time or come all at once! I'll finish you right here!"

"What a maroon," Ryan said. "Still think he's got the advantage with all four of us against him."

"Then let's teach him how wrong he is! Everyone, Ride your Vanguards!" Chrom said, glowing with energy.

"VANGUARD RIDE!" Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick declared, beginning to transform. However, Ryan pointed off to the side.

"Call! Super Dimensional Robo Shadow Kaiser!" A new mecha appeared off to Ryan's side, a tall mech in the same style as Daikaiser, however it had a ninja motif with a bright red scarf flapping in the wind and two large kunai in its hand. "Counterblast! Docking Formation!"

(BGM: _Believe in My Existence, JAM Project_)

"Essence Celestial, Becca!" Lissa's nurse uniform was replaced with a white dress, her gold hair loops being replaced with a dark green hood and a halo. Her staff was now replaced with a pair of guns in the shaped like a pair of crutches, with small blades attached to the bottom.

"Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred!" Chrom's armor was now more ornate, and he now was carrying two swords shaped like shorter zankantous, although the design motif of Falchion still existed, with their golden handles and brown handles.

"Incandescent Lion, Blonde Ezel!" Frederick was now clad in red and black armor, carrying twin curved swords, a large proud mane of blonde hair flowing out behind him.

"**SHADOW KAISER!**" Daikaiser and Shadow Kaiser took off into the air, the latter suddenly morphing from his humanoid form to some kind of jet fighter form. It then suddenly slowed, allowing for Daikaiser to fly into the space it created. At once, Shadow Kaiser slammed into place on Daikaiser's body. Kazard's head reappeared briefly before it was replaced with a new blue helmet with a more ornate v-fin and smoother faceplate. Two large cannons locked into place over its back, and the green gem-like breastplate was now a larger blue one.

"**Ultimate Dimension Robo! GREAT! DAI! KAI! SEEEER!**" Ryan's Vanguard boomed, a blast of sparkling green smoke erupting behind it.

Garrick could only in stare in awe of the four Vanguards around him, in particular the simply massive steel Vanguard in the back and the one who summoned him. The Raptor Colonel snorted, mirroring Garrick's own surprised expression. Ryan grinned, turning to the people next to him. "Listen up, everyone. If you attack him all at once, I can lay up for the finishing blow."

"You're certain you can finish him?"

"If you can clear out whatever defensive power he's got, I can end it with one decisive strike! Go, quickly!" Ryan said.

Frederick didn't appear all that convinced. Chrom gave Frederick a nod, though, and the Great Knight turned back to face Garrick. "Very well then. Ezel! Limit Break!" Frederick gave off a very convincing lion's roar as his Vanguard circle lit up the sky. "Superior Call, Holy Mage Gale!" A young brown-haired man in blue with an eagle-shaped hood on his head, carrying a golden staff, appeared behind Ezel, beginning to glow bright red.

"Call! Doctroid Megalos!" A large mechanical drone with long arm and syringes for fingers suddenly appeared. "Counterblast!" The syringes launched from Megalos's hands and dug into Lissa's skin, who winced only slightly. The image of another angel in a nurse's uniform appeared briefly before vanishing. "Penuel, activate!" Penuel giggled, then transformed into a ball of light that shot into Lissa's body. "Superior Call, Nursing Celestial Narelle!" The angel from before suddenly took her place behind Megalos.

"Limit Break!" Chrom, meanwhile, took the offensive, one of his blades beginning to glow bright yellow as his own Vanguard circle lit up behind him. "Critical Trigger! Liberator of Hope, Epona!"

"Guard, Dinodile! Brachiocarrier, Intercept!" A large geyser of water erupted in front of Garrick, summoning another Dinodile to block the attack, and the Brachiocarrier suddenly lumbered forward to stop Chrom from getting at him. Chrom swung his swords, and the two units disappeared into sparkles.

"Pick a god and pray! Holy Mage, Gale!" Frederick came charging in, leaping into the air, his twin swords also glowing bright yellow as Gale appeared. "Critical Trigger! Dantegal!"

"Prefect Guard! Archbird!" A large bird with multi-colored feathers suddenly came out, summoning a red orange wall of energy, deflecting Frederick's attack.

"Thousand Ray Pegasus!" Lissa took flight with her winged horse ally, and took aim with her guns. "Clear a path, everyone! Critical Trigger! Critical Hit Angel!"

Lissa and Thousand Ray Pegasus blasted away, unleashing a blast of yellow energy at Garrick and Raptor Colonel. The dinosaur roared, taking the blast in full, but then a green aura came over it. "Heal Trigger! Ancient Dragon Ornihealer!"

"Dangit!" Lissa shouted. "I almost had him!"

"Don't worry! That's what I'm here for!" Ryan said. "Great Daikaiser! Limit Break!" Ryan's bright red Vanguard circle lit up behind Great Daikaiser as it raised his hand.

"**RAI-OH ENJOUKEN!**" Great Daikaiser shouted, calling forth a large white and red sword in the same style as Ryan's, except it was much larger, even for a messer. It then shot forward on its booster rockets, flying at high speed at Raptor Colonel.

"I'm not going to let you get one up on me! Ancient Dragon Paraswall! Perfect Guard!" Another black duck-billed dinosaur appeared, raising a wall to defend against the oncoming Battroid.

"Bad idea! Drive Check One: Super Dimensional Robo Daikaiser!" A ghostly Daikaiser appeared, smashing away the Paraswall with a mighty punch.

"What!?" Garrick stumbled back in shock. "How-!?"

"Daikaiser's Break Ride skill lets me retire a called Guardian and null a Perfect Guard when I Drive Check a Grade 3! And with my Limit Break giving me a third Drive Check, you're fresh out of parlor tricks! Now, Double Critical Trigger!" Ryan tapped the yellow button twice. "Gorgon Eye! Dimensional Robo Daibattles!" A burst of yellow energy ran down Great Daikaiser's sword, crackling like lightning. "Ultimate Dimensional Robo Final Combo Attack: JUDGMENT ANNIHILATION!"

"**DANZAI! CHOOOOOUMESTU!**" Great Daikaiser swung his sword, cleaving Raptor Colonel, Garrick, and the road he was standing on in two. If that didn't kill them, then the resulting explosion did. Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick could only stare in complete awe of the man next to them, breathing heavily and sweating from the effort of leading his Vanguard to victory.

"Ha ha…ha…Elgo End…mother…f…" Thankfully, before Ryan could finish the graphic one-liner, exhaustion caught up with him and he fell to the ground.

* * *

Ryan woke up against the wall of the church. The stench of burning things was still in the air, but it wasn't as pungent as it was before he blacked out. Looking over, he could see Lissa tending to him.

"You're awake!" Lissa said happily. "Thank goodness."

"Good…I'm not dead," Ryan said blithely. Then, his stomach took over, and he ungracefully turned away from Lissa to lose his lunch right on the church steps. Ryan wasn't entirely sure what caused it: was it the two men he killed today? Did he just overexert himself and this was his body's idea of revenge? Either way, his mouth tasted like a three-day old chicken sandwich with way too much barbecue sauce, there was now a mess between the two of them. Lissa gave him a burst of her staff to try and quell any further nausea, handing Ryan a handkerchief with her other hand.

"Thanks," Ryan mumbled in embarrassment, wiping his mouth off before folding it into itself a couple times and stuffing it in his pocket. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Don't worry about it," Lissa replies. "Seriously, though, holy wow, Ryan! Swords, a tactics, and a giant Vanguard! Is there anything you can't do?"

"Hold in my food, apparently," Ryan quipped. Lissa giggled. "You got any water or anything? I need to wash my mouth out."

"You rang?" Chrom appeared in front of him, handing me a water skein. Taking it, Ryan took in a little bit of water, swirled it in his mouth as he slowly got up to his feet and spit into the nearby alley. "Thanks. Is that all of them?"

Chrom accepted the skein back. "Most of them fled when you unleashed your Limit Break. Trust me, we won't be seeing them again anytime soon."

"Lucky for the town we were nearby," Lissa said, nodding.

"You're certainly no helpless victim, if that Great Daikaiser show you put on is to be believed," Chrom continued.

"Indeed. Although I do have resignations about the state of his physical health." Frederick came over as well, giving Ryan another searching stare. Ryan gave Frederick a dull glare at the statement. "Perhaps you might even be capable of an explanation for how you came here or obtained such power?"

"Not really. Truth be told, I don't remember all that much, just talking with a ghostly Kaizard and telling me I had to go help my friends," Ryan answered. "I'm aware it's not much and I haven't given you a lot of reasons to trust me, but please. Give me a chance, Sir Frederick."

Chrom smiled. "You fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that's enough."

Frederick turned to Chrom, still with that searching look. "And your mind, milord? Will you not heed its counsel as well?"

Chrom's smile lessened a little. "Frederick, the Shepherds could use someone with Ryan's talents, as mysterious as they are. We have brigands and unruly neighbors trying to bloody our soil. With that in mind, would you really have us lose such a valuable ally?"

"Chrom…" Ryan said, touched by Chrom's words.

"Besides, odd as it is, I believe his story," Chrom added. Frederick nodded, acquiescing to Chrom's words.

"Thanks, Chrom," Ryan grunted.

"So how about it?" Chrom asked, offering him his hand. "Will you join us, Ryan?"

"With pride," Ryan said, accepting the handshake.

Frederick at least waited until they broke off until he spoke again. "Milord, something just occurred to me. Those brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."

"Plegian? Is that another country nearby?" Ryan asked.

"Plegia is Ylisse's westerly neighbor. The send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate a war," Chrom explains.

"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer!" Lissa complained. "Totally innocent and totally helpless…"

"They do have _us_, milady. Shepherds to protect the sheep," Frederick reminded her. "Do not be swept up in your anger, it will only cloud your judgment."

"I know, I know," Lissa said with a dismissive wave. "Don't worry, I'll get used to this."

Suddenly, a villager, probably the chief townsman (Ryan wouldn't know, he had nothing to identify his station) joined the group. "Milord, please, stay the night! We are simple folk of simple means, but we would gladly toast your valor with a feast!"

"A generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand," Frederick said with a smile. "But, I'm afraid we must hurry back to Ylisstol."

"Dark meat only for me, medium well, and no salt in the soup. I simply…" Lissa began, then caught herself once she processed Frederick's statement. "Wait, what?! We're not staying?! But Frederick, it's nearly dark!"

Realizing what she just said, Ryan looked up in the sky, and sure enough the sun has already begun to set in the west. _Holy hell in a handbasket, how long was I out_?

"When night falls, we'll camp. Eat off the land, make our bed of twigs and the like…" Frederick said, chuckling. "I believe you mentioned you would be 'getting used to this?'"

Lissa pouted. "Frederick? Sometimes I hate you."

"Your XO's kinda stern, I notice," Ryan remarked off-handedly.

"Yeah, well 'stern' is one way of putting it. I can think of a few others!" groaned Lissa.

"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe," Chrom agreed.

_Great. As if Frederick wasn't unappealing enough as it is._ "Point made."

Frederick cleared his throat. "You do realize I am still present?"

"Oh we do, Frederick. We do," Chrom smiled, which gets a little chuckle from Ryan. In a way, they reminded him of his own family.

"Milord remains as amusing as ever," Frederick quipped. "Now then, shall we be going?"

"Alright, alright," Chrom put up his hands. "Ready to go, Ryan? The capital isn't far, just a day's journey out."

Ryan stretched out his arms and arched his back, adjusting the sword at his belt. "Ready anytime, Chrom."

* * *

By the time they hit the road to Ylisstol from Southtown, the sun has already dipped below the horizon. Once again, Chrom and Lissa (still grumbling about missing the feast the villagers were preparing for us) were in the lead, Ryan was in the middle, and Frederick was in the rear on sweep. Frederick's glare from before was thankfully absent, even though Ryan could still feel him keeping a close eye on him. But, this time it didn't feel like he was getting sunburn on his neck, despite it being in the depths of twilight. _Maybe Chrom finally got through that huge armor he's got around his mind as well as his body?_

Ryan quickly increased his pace to catch up to Chrom. "Hey, Chrom."

"Yeah?" Chrom asks.

"Something's been bothering me. When I first met you guys in that field, I was able to identify Frederick as a Great Knight, and then during the fight I was able to identify people by class. Ruffians, Myrmidons, I think the floppy hat guy was a Mage, Lissa being a Cleric…I don't ever remember being able to do that or learning as much," I explain. "Can you think of anything that might cause it?"

Chrom purses his lips, trying think of an answer. "Well…I have heard of special schools on the continent that specialize in teaching tactics. And one of the first things you learn in those schools is how to identify units and size them up. Identify them by class, see the weapons they use, see how they're deployed…perhaps it is similar to your knowledge of Vanguard."

Ryan frowned. "I wouldn't know about that. But, I guess it is a good an answer as any…but it kinda sounds like you have experience in that kind of thing, yourself…"

Chrom smiled. "Thank Frederick for that. He's been training to make me a warrior since I was young. Trust me, Frederick may seem like a great big stick-in-the-mud, but I owe a lot to him. Give him time, Ryan, and he'll trust you soon enough."

Ryan nodded understandingly. If Chrom was still willing to put up with Frederick while still trying to back him up, then he could definitely live with that.

* * *

_So, there we all were. Me, Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick, footing our way back to Ylisstol. While I would gain a lot of friends across my journey, my friendship with Chrom would be something that people tell me define us both, even now when there's less to do than there would be later on this story. _

_The biggest thing about it, though, was more about what this meant for me than anything having to do with our bonds, important as they would become, for reasons that we'll get to later. But even then I knew that Chrom would be a guy that I could trust. Lissa, too, and even Frederick. For as suspicious of me as he was and me being resentful toward him as a result, Fred and I are still friends. And good thing, too, as you'll later read. _

_We needed to be, for the events that would come later._


	3. Chapter 1: Unwelcome Change

**Chapter 1: Unwelcome Change**

Night had fallen, and the group was still on the road to Ylisstol. Chrom was leading the way with a torch Frederick had brought along for the trip, Lissa was right with him, still grumbling about Frederick sniping her feast hopes out of the sky, and Frederick still watching their backs. Even with the torchlight, looking up into the sky Ryan can see more stars than he could count. At one point, he could even see the moon, which looked a bit bigger than he remembered it being.

"I told you!" Meanwhile, Lissa was in the middle of complaining to Chrom. "It's getting dark already! Ech, and the bugs are out!" This suddenly alerted Ryan to the sound of a high-pitched buzzing and something landing on his arm. Reflexively he slapped at it, but he only hit his arm as whatever it was (a gnat, probably) was not there anymore and now his arm was stinging. _Damn pests._

"Noisy, disgusting bugs that crawl all over you and bite you and…" Suddenly, Lissa stopped, hands flying to her mouth as a look of horror crossed her face. "UGH! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!" Ryan couldn't help but chuckle a little at Lissa's misfortune. In spite of her complaints taking up most of the evening's chatter, the young girl had been growing on him. "Tpht! Tpht! Yeeeeeuck!" Lissa spat into the grass, finally ridding herself of her unwelcome guest. "I think I swallowed it."

"Oh, come now, Lissa. Hardship builds character," Chrom wheedled. "Want to help me gather firewood?"

"I'll pass on firewood. I think I've grown enough character for one day, thank you!"

A loud growl cut into the conversation. Chrom and Frederick stiffened, trying to pinpoint its source, but Ryan already knew what it is: his stomach, reminding him he hadn't eaten since Chrom brought him some mint leaves to freshen his mouth.

"Eh heh heh…as long as we're discussing camp, what are we doing for food?" Ryan asked nervously. "I dunno 'bout you, but I'm starving."

"Yes, I should think a little hunting and gathering is in order," Frederick said. "Now, who wants to clear a campsite?"

The task ultimately fell on Ryan, as Chrom observed Ryan trying to hunt with his Vanguard would be more than a little awkward. Chrom handed Ryan the torch he'd been carryng and went off by himself in search of food, while Lissa and Frederick went searching for firewood. With torch guiding him through the half-darkness, Ryan found a spot to set up further down the road, clearing away as many rocks as he under the torchlight. Lissa and Frederick were first back, Frederick carrying some short and stout logs under both arms while Lissa strained under the weight of a pile of dead branches for tinder. Once the campfire got going and Lissa and Ryan caught their breath, Ryan noticed Frederick is still going around the campsite, picking up the odd pebble.

_Funny, is he a collector or something?_

Chrom came back not much later, a bunch of raw meat hanging from leather ropes in his hand. "Here I am, everyone, and I bear food!"

Ryan tilted his head. "What is that meat? I don't recognize it."

"It's bear meat," Chrom says, handing him a piece that felt about as tough as tree bark in his hands. "Fresh from the wilds."

Lissa didn't look particularly thrilled, even as Chrom handed her and Frederick a piece as well. Ryan gnawed on a little bit of his piece. It was a little stringy for his taste, but surprisingly tender. Ryan's tongue prodded him to attempt something with it, so he grabbed a branch that Lissa brought for tinder and stuck the bear meat on that, letting it sit over the fire for a few minutes before attempting to eat it again, and found it much more to his liking.

"Ah, nothing like the taste of bear meat…delicious!" Chrom said. "…what's the matter, Lissa? Dig in."

"Pass!" said Lissa distastefully. "Gods, can't you spear something normal people eat for once? I mean, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain. Right, Ryan? …uh, Ryan?"

Ryan almost didn't hear her because he was so focused on the bear meat. Shifting it off to one side of his mouth with his tongue, he asked, "Eh? Someone mention me?"

Lissa sighed. "I suppose a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days…"

"I dunno what you're talking about," Ryan replied plainly. "This is actually pretty good."

Lissa frowned, about ready to burst a blood vessel in her temple. Chrom chuckled again. "Just eat it, Lissa. Meat is meat."

"Since when does meat smell like old boots?!" Lissa asked indignantly. "Wait, I take that back…boots smell better!" Unfortunately for Ryan, right when she said that, he'd been taking a drink from a water skein and just about choked on it as he started laughing, which caused her to glare at him from across the campfire.

"Sorry, sorry," Ryan said.

Frederick, as always, played the serious card. "Every experience makes us stronger, milady, even those we don't enjoy."

Lissa's glare shifted to Frederick. "Really? Then why don't I see YOU eating, Frederick?"

"Me? Oh…well…" Frederick's eyes suddenly started shifting as he laughed it off. Ryan hadn't even realized that, much like Lissa's, his bear meat was untouched. "I'm not hungry. I…I had a large lunch! Yes, quite."

Ryan was pretty sure he was lying, but why, or how, he didn't know. Lissa wasn't buying it either. "Yeah right, Frederick!"

* * *

Ryan couldn't sleep.

He could hear Lissa snoring softly some distance away, and if Frederick was asleep, he couldn't tell from his angle. Only Chrom was still awake, because he wanted to take first watch. He sees Ryan still awake and smiles. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Kinda. I've been struggling with my mind, processing all this information…" I say, turning away and looking up towards the few stars I can see through the forest canopy. "Not to mention I'm a bit of an insomniac, which is a bad habit of mine."

Chrom grunted, dropping a small cup of water on the fire to douse it, and began stirring the ashes. "Well, perhaps it would help if you talked about something. Like where you're from and all that. After all, we've spoken extensively about us, but we know so little about you."

"Touché," Ryan said. "The thing is, though, is that talking about myself is…not exactly something I'm fond of, nor good at."

"I see…do you feel comfortable in at least telling me a little bit?"

Ryan nodded, closing his eyes as he pulled his memories together. There was a lot to talk about, but in this world a lot of the information seemed irrelevant. "My name is Ryan King…I'm from California, in the United States of America…and that's about it, really."

"California? United States of America? I assume that's the country you're from, but I've never heard of either before," Chrom said. "What is that like?"

"Well, basically if you took something like Ylisse, and then divided the territory into fifty different parts of differing size…that's basically it. I'd say more, but that'd involve a lot of history and political science I don't think you're ready for," Ryan explained.

Chrom laughed. "You have a good sense of humor, Ryan."

"It's my only competent feature," Ryan continued with a wry grin.

Chrom laughed again, sighing as he looked up at the sky. "I wouldn't worry. There'll be time one day to learn more about America and everything that comes with it."

Ryan nodded again. "I guess so."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Chrom suddenly stiffened again, looking around at the trees as if looking for something. As he got up, Lissa did as well, apparently woken up by whatever it was that Chrom was looking for.

"What's wrong, big brother?" she asked with a yawn.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you but…" Chrom said. "Something is amiss…"

"Something's up? Got an idea about what?" Ryan asked.

"I'm not sure…I think I'll have a look around."

"Not alone, you won't! I'm coming, too," Lissa said.

"Heh…thanks, Lissa," Chrom chuckled.

"You want me to come with, too?" Ryan asked. "Or do you need me to stay behind with Frederick?"

"You just get some sleep, Ryan," Chrom said with a smile. "We won't stray too far from camp."

"Alright. Just be back soon," Ryan relented with a yawn. "I'd rather not have to go looking for your corpses come dawn."

Chrom smiled. "Good night, Ryan."

"Good night, you two."

With that, Chrom and Lissa left as Ryan stretched out in the dirt, trying to get more comfortable, but whatever unease Chrom was feeling earlier seemed to be infecting him now, as he still was unable to find sleep, and now there was a feeling in the pit of his gut, like there was something bad around the corner. All of a sudden Chrom and Lissa heading off by themselves seems less and less like a good thing. And it only got worse when, all of a sudden, everything seemed to go quiet. Nocturnal songbirds stopped singing, crickets stopped chirping, even the wind in the trees seemed to suddenly drop off without warning.

_Okay, if that's a bad sign, I don't know what is._

Ryan quickly got to his feet, going down the same road that Chrom and Lissa had gone. Thankfully, he didn't have to travel far, as he caught up to Chrom and Lissa, who also seem a little weirded out at the sudden silence in the area.

"It sure is dark…and quiet," observed Lissa. "Where did the birds go?"

"Something is wrong here," mumbled Chrom.

"I know, right?" Ryan asked. "Reaaaal bad juju going down."

Chrom jumped, whipping around with his hand on Falchion, Lissa gave an "eep!" of surprise and tried to whack him with her Heal staff, but Ryan raised his hands and stepped back before he suffered any further brain damage. "Whoa, whoa, hey! It's me, guys!"

"Ryan? What are you doing here?" Chrom asked, relaxing, although his grip on his sword handle didn't relax with the rest of his body.

"Looking for you," Ryan said. "I couldn't sit still and I wanted to make sure you're alright."

And right when Ryan said that, an earthquake hit. Surprisingly, the three of them managed to stay upright as Lissa clutched onto her brother.

"Ahhh! Chrom!" Lissa screamed.

"Agh! What is this madness?! Lissa, stay close!" Chrom said.

"Just stay calm, guys, it's just an earthquake! Don't run into the trees and just stay here until it's over!" Ryan said, trying to stay calm. Having in lived in California all his life, he was a bit more used to earthquakes, although this one was pretty big.

Amidst the ground rumbling and the trees around them rustling, Ryan could also hear something else…the sound of ripping earth and falling trees. Something was headed their way. Something big. And Chrom could sense it, too. "Ryan. Take Lissa and run."

"What?" Ryan ask in confusion.

"I mean it, go!" Chrom said.

"You heard the man! Let's boogey!" Ryan say to Lissa, and we took off running. Running in an earthquake wasn't exactly an easy task, especially when the ground is shaking in every direction conceivable, but they were able to outrun whatever was rumbling toward them at high speed. Suddenly, the ground stopped shaking and something came out of the ground, blazing with the heat of a thousand suns burning in a hot desert, and sending fireballs raining down every which way around them. "Sweet mother of God-!"

"Hey! This way!" Chrom suddenly passed him, heading off to the left. Lissa and Ryan turned with him, leaping down to lower ground as a fireball hit the ground right at their backs, and finally made it to a forest clearing. If it weren't for the fact it was pitch black not a moment before, Ryan would almost think it was dawn with the fire lighting up the sky. Even though he and Lissa were out of breath, Chrom looked like he'd only been taking a brisk jog.

"Chrom, what is that!?"

Chom and Ryan followed Lissa's finger pointing into the sky, and sure enough, looking where she was pointing there's something forming in the air above them. It eventually transformed into a large golden magical circle, almost like the magic circle he'd seen the Mage cast in Southtown. In the center of it, a blue orb of energy formed inside, and a few figures dropped to the ground from it.

"Lissa, you better stay back," Chrom warned. Lissa nodded, dropping back towards a nearby boulder as Chrom drew Falchion. "Ryan?"

"Say no more, man, I'm right with ya," Ryan said, drawing his own sword.

Three figures step out of the darkness of the trees. They are all armored warriors armed with axes, their skin purple with decay and their eyes glowing red with dark energy. They half-growled half-groaned a battle cry, black smoke of some sort pouring out of their mouths as they charged at them.

Chrom is right with me, swinging his sword for a vital strike right through one of them. It would've felled a normal man, but suddenly it spun its head back around and tried to pounce on him again. Ryan was assaulted by another one of the axe-wielders. He twisted to avoid a fatal strike to the side, but as he twisted, the axe blade still cuts into my side, drawing blood. Ryan stumbled back as it tried to attack again, but this time he was ready for the attack, sidestepping away from the zombie before swinging his sword, slicing the monster's arm off. With a quick pirouette, Ryan spun towards the zombie's back and thrust with the sword. The monster's eyes went dark and it sagged, finally vanishing into black dust.

As Ryan resumed a ready position, Chrom came flying in from the air, somersaulting with blade out as he jumped on the fallen zombie warrior, jamming his sword right into its back as it vanishes into black dust like its comrade. He actually looked tired now, thanks to the sweat Ryan could see on his face.

_Well, at least we know we can beat them…wait, wasn't there three of them?_

"AAAAH!"

"Lissa!" Chrom recognized the scream.

_Oh crap! We forgot about Lissa!_

Sure enough, the one guy they had forgotten about was prowling towards Lissa, who was paralyzed with fear against the boulder, unable to fight even with her Heal staff. The zombie raised its axe to finish Lissa off with a swift blow, something else came flying out of the ring…another figure, but instead of dropping like the others, this one went flying through the air, dropping in on Ryan left as he charged, hoping to beat the zombie to the killing blow.

CLANG!

With a burst of speed from God-knows-where, the new arrival dashed to the rescue, stopping the monster's attack cold with some kind of rear guard maneuver just in time to save Lissa from a bloody end. The sight was enough to make Ryan and Chrom both stop in their tracks, in awe of the feat. Then, the figure turned to them, her face obscured by something Ryan couldn't make-out in the half-dark, clearly straining under the being's strength, and snapped one word at them. "Help!"

"Right!" Chrom nodded, cutting across to the right as Falchion started to blaze with blue fire. "Over here, monster!"

"Hang on!" Ryan added, cutting to the left, raising his sword. "Shepherds to the fray! Be just or be dead!"

The zombie turned towards the noise, giving time for the figure to prepare his own move. Twisting his body, he reversed the grip on his sword and twisted it away with a skirmishing move, then shoved it away from Lissa, allowing for Ryan and Chrom to finish with two well-timed slashes to the back. It promptly disintegrated.

For a moment, nobody said anything. In fact, the only sound was the crackling of the distant wildfire and the mysterious savior sheathing his sword.

"That was quite an entrance," said Chrom. "What's your name?"

The figure said nothing, except to look at us with a look that didn't have any answers. The figure seemed built like Chrom, not necessarily muscular but definitely got a kind of lithe power about him. He had dark blue hair, and he (Ryan assume it was a he) wore a mask on his face, shaped like a butterfly but with grates at the eyes, so neither one could figure out much more about him. As for dress, he was dressed in a dark blue-green tunic, leggings, boots, and a dark blue cloak.

There was an approachin noise and Frederick finally came galloping in, stopping any potential answer. "Milord! Milady! Are you hurt?"

"We're fine," Ryan said, quickly going over to Lissa. "You okay?" Lissa, still a little shell-shocked from her brief brush with death, could only nod and give a hum of agreement. "Looks like we got ourselves a zombie problem. Is this common in Ylisse?"

"They're not from Ylisse, I promise you that," Chrom said.

"No one is injured, then? Thank the gods…" said Frederick with a relieved sigh.

"Thank the masked man who saved me!" Lissa said, suddenly resuming her normal bouncy personality. "If it wasn't for him, I'd be…hey, where did he go?"

Where indeed. In the confusion of Frederick showing up, which made Ryan regret not waking him up from the start, the masked man from earlier seemed to have flown the coop.

"We can worry about him later," Frederick said, pulling out his lance. "AFTER we put these…zombies, as you call them…to the blade. Eyes open, now. We know nothing about this enemy."

"For once, Frederick, I second that notion," Ryan agreed. "Can't have these creepy-crawlies scurrying about."

"Agreed," Chrom chimed in. "Now…first thing we need to do is start making our way towards that wildfire."

"What? Why?" asked Lissa. "But that's where most of those guys came from!"

"Well, that is true," I say. "But it's also the closest source of good light. These forests are good cover in a fight, yes, but in dark conditions like this it's also a good place to get ambushed. If these zombies are after us, we need to force them out to open ground, where we can see them, ideally near a place we can duck into cover if they try to swarm us. 'cause if there's one thing I know about zombies, is that they operate in packs."

Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick stare at Ryan as he stopped, his jaw still hanging open at his explanation. _Okay, Chrom mused that I could have a tactical bent earlier, but that statement came right out of the blue and still sounded intelligent! How the hell am I capable of such a thing?_

"Erm…right. The logic is sound enough, at least," Chrom said, trying to fill the awkward silence.

"And so it is," agrees Frederick. "Now, onward, and be ready for anything!"

* * *

Frederick took the lead, pulling out that torch Chrom and Ryan had been using earlier to light the way earlier until the flames in the near distance could light up the area around them. Thankfully, no zombies came out to ambush them in the trees, but once they came out of the trees, they could see a few more of them, a Myrmidon and a Fighter, specifically, coming out to meet them in the red firelight of the nearby burning forest.

"Frederick, take the blade wielder!" Chrom called, drawing his weapon. "Ryan, you and I will take the axe wielder!"

"Roger!" Ryan said.

Chrom stopped. "What?"

"Just…carry on, I got your back!" Ryan said, rolling his eyes at himself for his word choice.

Chrom didn't question it further and charged, Ryan and Lissa following up behind him. Chrom stuck first, leaping the remaining distance between him and the Fighter and opening up with a slash with his sword, catching the zombie high on its arm. Chrom leaped back as it attempted a swing, catching him on his shoulder as it rings off his shoulder guard. Ryan crossed over, swinging his own sword as I lunged and missed him. The zombie whipped around, axe swinging, and Ryan jumped back, the head of the axe just barely scything past his hip, which allowed Chrom to follow up with his attack and finish it off.

"That was a good strike he landed. You alright?" Chrom asks.

"Sure," Ryan nodded, touching the area the axe almost hit him. It didn't feel like anyone had struck him there, but he could swear he was staring to get flashback of getting struck by an axe in the last fight. Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves caught his attention, and he shook his head to clear the phantom pains out of his mind.

"Captain Chrom! Get down!"

Ryan turned around, and all of a sudden a lance point came flying at his chest. A quick upswing parried the lance strike away as his attacker galloped past him. The attack was a heavy one, and nearly

"Who the hell are you!?" Ryan shouted, preparing his sword as his attacker wheeled her horse around. She was a Cavalier with short red hair, but her armor is not as heavy, colored somewhere between red and burgundy, with khaki accents and some kind of cloth streaming down her front, and she was armed with the lance that she nearly impaled him on.

"So you actually speak! 'bout time I had an intelligent enemy to fight!" the knight said with a fair bit of confidence, but right as she was about to take another pass, Chrom intervened.

"Ryan! Sully! Hold!"

"Okay! Okay!" Ryan put up his hands, quickly moving backwards towards Chrom and Lissa.

Sully, in turn, put up her lance, trotting towards them. "Captain Chrom. Sorry for attacking your friend here, but I mistook him for the enemy as I was coming in."

"It's alright, Sully. I'm just glad to cut in before someone got hurt," Chrom replied. "But I'd like to know what you are doing here? I thought you were patrolling the coast."

"I came to assist you," Sully replied. "After my last mission, I heard you'd just left Southtown and figured if I hurried I could catch up with you and escort you back to Ylisstol. But then the ground started shaking, that magic circle thing showed up, and then whatever these things were showed up."

"I see. Well, despite the gaffe, we're happy to have you," said Chrom. "Just make sure the enemy is in your path next time!"

"Will do," Sully nodded before turning to Ryan, holding out a hand. "Sorry about that. Name's Sully. I'm a Shepherd."

"I'm Ryan," Ryan gave it a shake. "From the United States of America."

Sully stares at me, confused. "United what of where now?"

"I'll explain once we've cleared these guys out," Ryan said quickly, waving it off.

"Sounds good," Sully smirked, taking point as two more zombies, another Mercenary and a Fighter, came out of the trees. "Alright, you ash-faced freaks! Which one of ya wants to try my lance on for size first?! I know just the spot for it: shoved right up your…"

"Hold, milady!" Another new voice rang out, this one male, stopping Sully from finishing a rather graphic analogy.

"Muh?" Sully asked.

"Oh God, what now!?" Ryan asked ill-temperedly.

A second new figure came in from where Sully entered from, this one an Archer. He had steel-blue hair, dressed in a gray long-sleeved shirt with a set of steel blue light chest armor, and a ruffled ascot poking out around his neck. "Life may be long, but attraction is fleeting!" he continued. "Would you leave me in your sweet dust? Leave war to the warriors, dear bird! A beauty such as you need wage only love."

Sully just stared. Lissa stared as well. "…the hell are you?"

"Ha! Is the lady intrigued? Of course you are…it's only natural. I am myth and legend! I am he who strides large across history's greatest stage!" the man carried on, unaware that Sully was clearly not into him. "The man who puts 'arch' in 'archer!' My name, dear lady, is…"

Ryan couldn't take this guy anymore. He scooped up a rock from the ground, testing its weight in his hand for a moment, then threw it at one of the Risen's head. This got their attention, and they promptly charged, brandishing weapons. "Incoming! Stand ready, everyone!"

"Sorry, Ruffles, no time for this. Onward!" Sully galloped into the lead as they took off, leaving the Archer in the dust. Sully went for the Mercenary, jamming her lance right into the chest same as she would've done to Ryan. Ryan followed up behind her, jamming the tip of his sword into the zombie's head. Chrom went for the Fighter, disarming the axe-wielder with a twisting disengage, kicked him away, and then zipped forward for the decapitation.

Unfortunately, the Archer didn't give up the chase. "Wait! You didn't have to leave! Pray, at least tell me your name!"

"I'm Sully. I'm a Shepherd," Sully grunted.

"'Sully!' How divine! A starkly beautiful name, as befits its owner, truly. I am Virion, the greatest Archer in Rosanne! Will you marry me, my dearest Sully?" Virion said, promptly taking a knee and extending his hand to her.

"Will I what now?" Sully frowned at Virion as she made her way over, clearly entertaining thoughts of whacking him with the haft of her lance on his head a few times. "Oh, wait, I get it. This is a joke. And when I put my boot in your face? That's the punch line."

"I realize my manly figure and noble bearing can be overwhelming. 'tis common!" Virion said, faltering for a moment. Normally the ladies would be eating out of his hand by this point. "So please, don't feel pressured to answer right away…"

"How's THIS for an answer?!" Sully responded by pounding her boot right in Virion's face, sending him right on his rear.

"Hah! I like you already, Sully!" Ryan cracked. Sully gave him an acknowledging smirk.

"G-goodness, those shapely legs can kick…" Virion grunted, getting back to his feet. His face was now sporting the print of Sully's boot on his face. "P-please, milady! Allow me to accompany you, at least! Mine is a cold, empty world without you. I shall be your most willing servant, and in turn, you shall give my life purpose…"

"Okay, fine. Anything to shut you up…" Sully groaned. "…but only if Captain Chrom approves."

"I have no objections. Ryan?" Chrom merely shrugged.

Ryan was already of the mind to kick him to the curb, but he had a feeling not taking Virion with them would come back to haunt them. A ranged attacker would be key to improving their unit makeup. "I guess I'm fine with it if you are. Anybody know where Frederick went?"

"I have returned!" Right on cue Frederick came back, cutting back the way the group had had come. "The remainder of the enemy forces should be up ahead. Their leader is waiting at the edge of the wildfire as we speak."

"Then let's make this quick," Ryan said. "Chrom and I will take the lead. Sully, Lissa, Virion, form up behind us, Frederick, you'll take the rear. Keep near the trees but stay in formation. If you see enemies coming, give a whistle and point them out. And if you see anything that doesn't look human even by zombie standards, point that out too."

"AYE!" the Shepherds nodded and quickly fell into position as they took off into the night.

* * *

Just as Frederick predicted, the rest of the zombies lay up ahead, only being about four of them, three Fighters and an Archer, with one of the Fighters away from the rest. As Chrom pointed them out, Ryan prepared his sword. "Okay, get ready! Chrom, you and I will take the Fighters! Sully, charge that Archer and take him out before he starts shooting! Frederick, grab Lissa and stand by for orders in case someone needs help! Virion, get in the trees and try and get a good shot on that third Fighter!"

Chrom and Ryan increased their pace as Sully galloped by, whooping some Ylissean warcry. Frederick picked up Lissa and put her on his horse, galloping past as well with Virion right behind him. Chrom went airborne, dodging a slash from an axe as he landed a good strike on his enemy from behind. As it turned, he retreated and then zipped forward again with a stab, finishing it off. Ryan slashed and missed yet again, but he recovered in time to parry the counterattack that followed, twisting the axe head away, and then jammed his elbow in the zombie's face. It staggered back, just in time for me to stab it in the chest and defeat it. Across the way, Sully gave the Archer zombie another stab, and it vanished.

_All that's left is that third Fighter…_

"Incoming!" And then Virion came diving out of the trees like a bat out of hell as flames shot out of the trees over him.

"What the hell was that!?" Sully asked.

"On your guard, everyone! These things may have some new power at hand!" Frederick shouted.

Two more zombies came out of the trees, however, these two were different than the others they'd been fighting. In addition to their purple-gray skin and red eyes, they were also glowing with a black and red aura. A very familiar black and red aura, Ryan noted.

"Guys…I think you might want to get your Vanguards ready!" Ryan said, quickly raising his bracelet into the air. "Stand up, O Vanguard! Dimensional Robo Goyusha!" Ryan's Vanguard circle lit up the area, calling forth his humongous blue robotic Vanguard.

"What? Why…?" Chrom began, but suddenly, the two zombies roared, a pair of Vanguard circles appearing around them. They began to change, transforming into small dragon-like creatures, one in black and red armor, carrying a sword shaped like a lightning bolt _(Eradicator, Blade Hang Dracokid_), and another one black and red, wielding a pair of short short-barreled shoulder cannons (_Red Pulse Dracokid_). The first one waved its sword, lightning crackling down its blade. "Damn! Everyone, Vanguards!"

The Blade Hang Dracokid gave a high-pitched chirp, echoing with some kind of unholy power, then let fly with its electrical payload, enveloping Chrom, Sully, and Virion in smoke. However, Chrom bursting out of the smoke, transformed into his canine Vanguard. "Stand up, Vanguard! Wingal Liberator!"

The Narukami zipped to the left, dodging the attack, only for Sully to come galloping in, followed by a large green mech with a bull's head on its chest. "Stand up, Vanguard! Beast Deity Riot Horn!" The mech came flying in, striking the dragon in the face with its fist. However, it quickly recovered, unleashing another burst of lightning from its sword as Sully sped out of the way.

"Stand up, the Vanguard! Advance Party Brave Shooter!" However, another blast of energy came flying at the dragon, distracting it from Sully as Virion, aided by a young man in a white and black naval uniform with blue hair and fins where his ears would be. The merfolk raised its tri-barreled pistols again, firing away at the Blade Hang Dracokid. The Red Pulse Dracokid, meanwhile, was starting to take aim at Chrom, but suddenly another rock collided with its head.

"Hey! Kagero!" Ryan said, picking up another rock and throwing it at the Kagero. "Your mother was a wet matchstick!" The dragon turned on Ryan, snarling, as he quickly moved to where Frederick and Lissa were. "Yeah, you heard me right! Come on, you stupid lizard! I've dealt with summer days hotter than you, and I'm from the desert, so that says a lot!"

"What are you doing!? You're making it mad!" Lissa screamed at him.

"That's the idea! Now move that way, I got a plan!" Ryan countered, the dragon firing at him. Goyusha quickly blocked the attack with its shield as Ryan started moving away from the main melee.

The dragon fired another shot, sizzling right over Lissa's head. "Whatever you say!" Immediately, Lissa and Frederick also transformed into their Vanguards, following Ryan as they separated the two units from each other. As they retreated, the dragon followed, transforming from a small wyrm to a humanoid warrior in large dark red and purple armor, with blue skin, yellow eyes, and armed with a bright yellow sword of some sort.

_Embodiment of Armor, Bahr? But why is his armor purple? It's typically bright red…_ Ryan's eyes narrowed. _Reversed? No, a Reversed unit has black rings, typically…_

The dragon reappeared behind it, but it was now its regular red as opposed to its new colors from before. And then it attacked, swinging its sword in an arc of fire that struck Ryan, Lissa, and Frederick, sending them all backwards.

"Well…you got his attention…" Lissa grunted.

"That's all that matters. This way, we can keep these guys from double-teaming us and we aren't juggling having to attack two guys at once. As a wise man once said, 'nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs,'" Ryan said.

"Good to know," grunted Frederick. "But perhaps we can exchange warrior's wisdom when we aren't fighting for our lives?"

"Fair enough!" Ryan nodded, drawing his sword. "Vanguard Ride!"

* * *

"Vanguard Ride! Liberator, Holy Acolyte!" Chrom dashed out of his Vanguard Circle in the Acolyte's robes, summoning Falchion with a wave of his hand. "Critical Trigger! Strike Liberator!" The dragon had since evolved into a humanoid creature with the same purple skin as the thing from whence it came, armed with a wicked curved sword. It and Chrom strained to find purchase in their defenses before jumping back. "Nimue! Wingal Liberator!"

A woman with red hair wielding a golden axe, its head ablaze with the additional power, quickly followed up on the attack, with Wingal Liberator right behind her. The two of them landed a solid hit on the monster, actually making the monster bend at almost a forty-five degree angle under the heavy blow.

"Yes!" Chrom cheered. But then, the being simply waved its arms around, and then managed to set its spine straight once again. "…what!? Counterblast! Nimue, Superior Call!" Nimue spun, raising her axe to the air, summoning a white dog in gold armor, a red scarf around its neck. "Liberator Zoegal, take the other dragon!" Zoegal quickly took off running, pouncing on a nearby yellow dragon with two large horns with fangs bared. The dragon screeched and vanished.

The human monster gave a zombie groan, transforming once more as the ground rumbled underneath it as a large black, red, and mauve snake suddenly appeared, hissing at Chrom (_Conquering Eradicator, Zuitan_). Zuitan then came down on it, now wielding two shorter curved weapons that crackled with lightning. Then, purple and black dust motes began to coalesce around it, transforming into another human, this one armed with a revolver (_Certain Kill Eradicator, Ouei_), and another dragon with a large u-shaped crest on its head (_Eradicator, Lorentz Force Dragon_).

"Okay…" Chrom prepared his sword.

The Vanguard struck first, the snake shooting forward to strike Chrom and its rider swinging its swords. As Chrom parried the rider's attacks away, the snake clamped down on his arm, suddenly shocking him with a burst of electricity. The Certain Kill Eradicator Ouei fired away with his gun, but Chrom managed to react fast enough to move the snake in the way of the bullet. The snake promptly released him, but that also allowed the Lorentz Force Dragon to attack, unleashing a blast of lightning from its mouth at Chrom, sending him flying a good distance into the trees.

"I don't understand…what is with that Vanguard? I suspect it is of the Narukami clan, but its coloring is way off for units of its type…" observed Virion, nursing a nasty bruise from a previous lightning strike.

"Well, it's a Vanguard. And quite frankly, that's all I _need _to know! Hey! Come at me, ya freak! I'll show you a good fight!" Sully said, preparing her lance as her maroon vanguard circle lit up around her, her Vanguard becoming a gunmetal gray centaur-motif mech as Riot Horn appeared behind her. "Vanguard Ride! Beast Deity Herarti Destroyer! Come on, Ruffles, give me a hand here!"

"At once!" Virion nodded, a white Vanguard circle appearing behind him. "Vanguard Ride! Tear Knight Theo!" The gunner was replaced with a humanoid creature also wearing a white naval uniform, armed with a long rifle, and the Brave Shooter appeared behind him as well. "Call! Battle Siren Dorothea, Shortstop Brave Shooter, and Wheel Assault!" Two more naval fighters, one with a jetpack and armed with two curved swords and the other carrying a pair of small chakrams, and were quickly followed by a mermaid wielding a trident.

Sully immediately charged on her horse, smacking the snake rider with her lance to distract it from Chrom before galloping around. "Call! Beast Deity Max Beat! Beast Deity Blank Marsh!" Two more mechs, one a quartz-colored mech with a ram's head, and the other a white and black fox mech with yellow eyes and a red mane. "Max Beat, Riot Horn, take that snake thing first!"

"Shortstop Shooter, Wheel Assault! Assist the lady!" ordered Virion.

The Vanguard coiled to face the two oncoming Beast Deities, and promptly smacked Max Beat away with its head, while the Rider pounced on Riot Horn, forcing it to break away as it jabbed away at the mech's head. However, this allowed Virion's units to charge in during the confusion, chakram and blades raking away at the monster's scales.

"Watch me close, now! I'll kill ya twice!" Sully charged again, with Herarti and Blank Marsh charging in right behind her.

"And one for the bards!" Virion added as Dorothea summoned a tidal wave. He and Theo proceeded to take aim with their weapons and fire. However, another monster, a purple-scaled naga, was quick to summon a wall of lightning to block off both attacks, sending them flying errantly away.

"Damn, this one is tough…the hell IS this thing!?" Sully cursed.

* * *

"This was all your idea!" Lissa snapped at Ryan.

"Look, it's not like there's a difference between Kagero and Narukami!" Ryan countered. The trio had been forced to hide in the trees as the Red Pulse Dracokid, now a Dauntless Drive Dragon, unleashed its flaming breath, trying to flush them out of their hiding place as it torched the rest of the forest.

"We have the opportunity to end this if we can move quickly enough! We've been landing solid hits on it this whole time, it should go down if we hit it hard enough!" Frederick said. "Ryan, time your Superior Ride with mine! Kyrph, activate your skill!"

"Got it!" Ryan and Frederick dashed out of the trees, Kyrph and another one of Frederick's rearguards, a gold-armored knight with two thin curved swords and short red hair, suddenly shot into Frederick's lion-motif armor, engulfing them in bright light. "Goyusha! IT'S SHOWTIME!"

"**JIGEN GATTAI!**" Daitiger, Daimariner, Goyusha, and Daibattles lifted off from their positions combining all at once to form a suit of armor. Kaizard launched into the air, spreading its arms as the armor slammed into place on its limbs, and its face being covered by the fanged faceplate. "**Super Dimension Robo! DAI! KAI! SEEEEER!**"

"Superior Ride! Incandescent Lion, Blonde Ezel!" Frederick declared, now in Ezel's armor, wielding his swords, and Ezel's blonde mane flying in the air. "Now, Limit Break!" Frederick roared his lion's roar again, summoning a beautiful woman with proud white wings. "Superior Call, Flash Edge Valkyrie! And in turn, Little Battler Tron!" Blade Feather Valkyrie raised her sword, summoning a young green-haired boy wielding a zankantou. "With me, Tron!" Tron charged alongside Frederick as he urged his horse on, baring his swords against the Dauntless Drive Dragon. "Draw Trigger! Speeder Hound!"

"**Daikaiser Knuckle!**" Ryan's Vanguard also charged at it, swinging its energized fist. Dauntless Drive Dragon spun around, summoning a mechanical wyvern to intercept the attack (_Wyvern Guard, Barri_). The attacks rang off a red energy wall, sending both Vanguards spiraling away.

"A Perfect Guard-!" Frederick realized. "Valkyries! Fly!"

Flash Edge Valkyrie, its blade flaring with red energy, as well as a second Valkyrie with less armor, took off at the Dauntless Drive Dragon to press the offensive, blades striking the Flame Dragon.

"Surprise!" Suddenly, Lissa came soaring in, wielding a pair of blades modeled from scissors and airborne on Celestial blue wings, Thousand Ray Pegasus right behind her, firing with its syringe funnels to cover for her. However, the Drive Dragon roared, burning with red energy, and swung out with its claws, sending all four units away.

"Okay, buddy! Let's see how you like this! Danielle! Arabaki!" Two more blue-winged angels, one in a pink nurse's uniform and the other in a black dress with a syringe-shaped sniper rifle, took flight. Danielle threw a syringe at the Dauntless Drive Dragon as Arabaki shot at the syringe to give it more punch, but then a large burgundy red dragon quickly got in the way, protecting it from the angel's assault. "What the heck!? I thought I had him!"

The Dauntless Drive Dragon stared at the three of them, but Ryan could feel the dragon's glare was, for some strange, bewildering reason, it was directed towards him. And then, it roared, gathering more black dust motes into itself to create a black aura, shrouding the Flame Dragon from view.

"Is it doing a Break Ride?" Frederick asked.

"It has to be," Ryan said. "Dauntless Drive Dragon is a Break Ride unit…but to what I can't say-" And then, the new dragon reappeared, unleashing its aura in an explosive burst. The dragon's scales were now obsidian black, with almost mechanical edging on its chest and wings. However, it was the swirling black and red ring that emanated from the dragon's back that gave its true identity. "Oh God…Dauntless Dominate Dragon Reverse…!"

"You know what this thing is?" asked Frederick. His look, however, was more out of concern for himself and Lissa than the dragon facing them down currently.

"I know about Reversed Units…they're cards that were given power by the Link Joker clan, so their Limit Breaks lock their own units to activate effects similar to their native clan!" Ryan said. The Dauntless Dominate Dragon suddenly roared as a Vanguard circle lit up behind it, and the Dragon Knight Leather that was flanking suddenly cried out as it suddenly vanished, trapped in an orb of black and red energy, a pair of rings orbiting around it. "…like that."

"...and that's it? Talk about a disappointment," Lissa said, looking around at them.

Then, another dragon appeared next to Dauntless Dominate Dragon, this one black with two heads (_Berserk Dragon_). At once, they turned to the Love Machine Gun Nociel next to Lissa and unleashed a stream of flames at it, destroying the bow-wielding cherub. Then, the Dauntless Dominate Dragon unleashed its attack, a vicious tidal wave of dark red flame that washed over the three of them. But it didn't just strike them, it also struck Frederick's Valkyries and Doctroid Micros, the four units crying out and fading away.

"Our units-!" Lissa gaped.

"Of course. When it Drive Checks higher than grade 1, it retires a unit and then gains additional power each time it does it," Ryan grunted.

The Dauntless Dominate Dragon roared, as suddenly three images of Kagero units suddenly shot out of it, vanishing into the aether. At once, more energy began to swirl around it as it glared down at the three units around them.

"It stands!?" Frederick asked.

"Dauntless Drive's Break Ride Skill! The new unit can stand it after it attacks by discarding 3 cards from the hand!" Ryan explained.

"It's going to attack again!" Lissa said.

"Perfect Guards! Now!" Frederick barked, pointing forward with his sword. "Halo Shield Mark!"

"Adamantine Celestial Aniel!" Lissa added.

However, Ryan had no such time to react. The Dragon, now glowing an ominous dark yellow, unleashed its mighty flame once more, and while the two Sentinels came out to guard Frederick and Lissa from the onslaught, Ryan was thrown backwards and finally came to a halt under an oak, knocked unconscious from the blow as Daikaiser disappeared from sight.

"Ryan!" Frederick shouted, looking away from the Dauntless Dominate Dragon for a moment. It was all it needed, however, to send another dragon at Frederick, blasting away with its flank-mounted beam cannons (_Wyvern Strike, Jade_). Frederick slumped to the ground, Ezel's armor disappearing into the aether.

Only Lissa was left standing at the end of the barrage, and she could only look up in pure, unadultered horror of the humongous black and gunmetal gray being looming over her. For a moment, neither one moved, Lissa out of fear and the Dauntless Dominate Dragon more out of curiosity than anything else. And then slowly, it turned away from Lissa, instead taking a thundering step in Ryan's direction. For a moment Lissa exhaled, realizing that she was no longer a target.

And then something occurred to her: why didn't it consider her a target? Was she not a threat?

She wasn't a threat to it. And therefore she wasn't important to it.

She was being ignored!

And THAT suddenly erased Lissa's fear and replaced it with a seething rage that only a (relatively) spoiled princess like Lissa could have. "HEY! EYES ON ME!"

The dragon turned in Lissa's direction, and was promptly rewarded by Lissa's Heal staff colliding with its head. Lissa picked up her staff, transforming back into her scissor-sword. "Why don't you leave my friend alone and focus on the one you're shunting to the wayside, huh!? _ Keeper of the sacred symbol of life, unleash the entwined power of the fallen and the followers!_ VANGUARD BREAK RIDE! SPIRAL CELESIAL, HELLM!"

Lissa transformed, her red and white dress suddenly being replaced with a suit of armor, with a gold crest on the chest. Gone were her twintails, and now she had her hair in a long braided ponytail, a golden halo hanging over her. In her arm was a lance-like weapon, designed with a spiral motif of which the Vanguard derived its name. The Dauntless Dominate Dragon turned to Lissa, snarling.

"So, now I've got your attention, huh? Well, good! Because this'll be the only thing that you'll ever need to see again! LIMIT BREAK!" Lissa's Vanguard circle blazed to life above her. The spirit of another angel wielding a chain gun appeared, vanishing into the aether, and then another angel, this one with bright red and orange wings, entered into her. "Call! Medical Gunner Hermieres! Phoenix Calamity Flame!" The flame-winged angel appeared off to her right, and then a white-winged angel wielding a crossbow was quick to follow on her left.

"Thousand Ray Pegasus! Come on!" Lissa took flight on Celestial blue wings, standing on the Pegasus's back as its syringe funnels began to swirl around into position. Lissa proceeded to heft her lance in her hand, and then let fly, the weapon unleashing energy as it took on the form of a mighty drill. The Dauntless Dominate Dragon roared as it summoned a halberdier (_Embodiment of the Spear, Tahr_) and a purple-scaled lizard man with a staff (_Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara)_, and the Beserk Dragon joined them to intercept the oncoming flurry of attacks.

"Oh no you don't!" Lissa said. "Critical Trigger! Critical Hit Angel! Punishment Celestial Samyaza!" The Thousand Ray Pegasus unleashed a flurry of laser fire from the syringes, bright yellow energy firing out in all directions, slaying the three monsters instantly and striking the Dauntless Dominate Dragon. Then, the lance struck it right under its maw, spearing right through it. The dragon roared, collapsed with a mighty thud, and promptly vanished into black and red dust motes.

Lissa, panting heavily from her sudden outburst, dismissed her Vanguard, her staff finally tumbling out of the sky to the ground. Picking up her staff, she chuckled to herself as she went to go tend to Ryan and Frederick. "Who says I'm delicate now?"

* * *

"Vanguard Ride! Blaster Blade Liberator!" Chrom donned the armor of his knight avatar, charging with Falchion. "Call! Liberator of the Flute Escrad! Draw Trigger! Liberator, Lucky Charmy!" The red and gold-armored dragon that was in the place of Zuitan (_Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon_) roared as it swung its lightning bolt sword, knocking Chrom away.

"Vanguard Ride! Beast Deity Brainy Papio!" Sully's centaur mech was replaced with a black and gray mecha in the form of a baboon. "Call! Beast Deity Golden Anglet!" A white and gold dragon appeared in front of Riot Horn. "Go get 'em, you two!" The two mechs took off into the air, charging after the Vowing Sword Dragon.

"Vanguard Ride! Coral Assault!" Theo glowed and transformed into another naval officer, on a jetski with a mounted chain gun on the back. "Call, Tidal Assault! Attack now!" A blue-skinned soldier took off into the air, wielding a beam saber in either hand. The two attacks crashed against the Eradicator, making it roar. A sudden clap of thunder rang out, as if in reaction, and Virion clearly jumped a mile high. "Good heavens-!"

"Come on, Ruffles! No time to get spooked over a little lightning!" Sully said. "Brainy Papio! Blank Marsh! Move it!" The primate Beast Deity leapt into the air, unleashing a hail of missiles from its back as Sully took off in another charge, this time armed with a sword, as Blank Marsh took off alongside her. However, Vowing Sword Dragon raised its weapon, and a red-skinned djinni of Arab lore suddenly appeared, calling a blast of lightning to destroy the incoming blasts. Another thunderclap caused Sully's horse to rear in reaction. "Gah! Settle down, girl!"

"Hang on, Sully! Escrad! Wingal Liberator!" Chrom pointed as the golden-armored flautist, blazing red with Chrom's Draw Trigger blew into his instrument, unleashing a magical tornado that Wingal Liberator leapt into, attempting to use the attack to surprise the Vowing Sword Dragon. The Dragon was taken completely by surprise, blowing it well away into the trees. "Well…that went well."

Lightning then struck in the area the Vowing Sword Dragon fell, causing another boom of thunder. As black clouds swirled around in the night sky, the Thunder Dragon came down again, looking mighty angry at getting blown away. "Oh, gods, are you kidding me!? Escrad, Counterblast!" Escrad quickly played a trill on his flute as a portal lit up on Chrom's other side, summoning a blonde female magician. "History Liberator, Merron!"

"Dorothea! Let's go!" Virion hopped onto Coral Assault's jetski, taking aim with his bow. Dorothea summoned another tidal wave, launching them both at Vowing Sword Dragon. Both he and Coral Assault fired on it, but then a red-clad demon ninja (_Zephyr Eradicator, Hayate_)got in the way, taking the attacks. "Curses…!"

The Vowing Saber Dragon glared at the three of them with its reptilian eyes, before wrapping its wings around itself, gathering dark energy around itself. Chrom, Sully, and Virion could only stare as the dragon transformed, taking on a more wicked appearance. A second lightning bolt sword appeared in its claws, and a telltale black and red energy appeared in between its wings. (_Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse"_)

"The hell is that thing!?" Sully asked.

"Gods, I don't know…" Chrom said.

Vowing Saber Dragon raised its blades, waving them around as a pair of lightning strikes energized them, making them reach an absolutely gargantuan size, and then swung, striking down Tidal Assault, Merron, and Golden Anglet. The Blade Hang Dracokid, long since hiding in the background since the fight began, transformed into light and entered the Saber Dragon's body. As it did so, two more units appeared: an armored lizardman, also wielding a lightning bolt sword (_Homing Eradicator, Rochisin_) and a dragon wielding a pair of electrically-charged white boomerangs. (_Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon_). Then, it roared, summoning a Vanguard circle.

"Limit Break-!" Virion realized.

"Brace yourselves, everyone!" Chrom called out.

The Thunder Boom Dragon screeched as it was locked, and then the Vowing Saber Dragon struck, roaring as thunderbolts rained down from the sky. Riot Horn, Blank Marsh, Dorothea, Wheel Assault, Escrad, and Wingal Liberator were all struck in turn and were promptly destroyed by the blasts. With nothing to protect them, it followed up by swinging its swords, sending Chrom, Sully, and Virion flying.

Chrom tried to get to his feet, his body burning with pain. He could barely hear anything, now. The multiple thunderclaps at close range from the lightning strikes were playing havoc on his hearing, and Sully and Virion were writhing on the ground, barely conscious from being struck from such a huge blow. The Vowing Saber Dragon turned back to him, staring at him with black and red eyes before he noticed Rochisin coming forward, raising its sword to finish him off.

"…al…ber…tor…"

Suddenly, amidst the screaming of blood in his ears, something tackled Rochisin to the ground, something small, white and furry. As he forced himself to a sitting position, he caught the glimpse of an armored white-furred dog, much like his erstwhile Wingal Liberator, but then it vanished. Looking around, he saw Marth there, standing protectively over him, an aura of wispy blue fire surrounding her. Then, Lissa, followed by an exhausted Ryan and Frederick, entered the scene. With a quick wave of Lissa's Heal staff, Chrom's pain and deafness left him.

"Looks like we're right on time," Ryan quipped. "Two Reversed units in the same general idea is never a good thing."

"Reversed…is that what thing is?" Sully asked as she and her horse quickly got to their feet.

"Well, I may not know what this 'Reversed' business is about," Virion said. "But I know that such a foul beast cannot roam this land free of its own volition."

"For once, Ruffles, I totally agree."

"We can make jokes later!" Chrom said. "Everyone, the time has come to show this thing real power! Vanguard Ride!"

"Vanguard Ride!" echoed Virion and Sully.

Chrom's white knight armor disappeared, instead being replaced with large gold and turquoise armor, with humongous clawed gauntlets that bore the image of Falchion. His hair was now much longer than before, shoulder length and flying everywhere. "Wolf Fang Liberator Garmore!"

Sully's baboon mech suddenly increased dramatically in size, now resembling a blue dragon with golden accenting in its armor. "Beast Deity Azure Dragon!"

Virion also had his own dragon, a humongous white and blue one, bearing two large cannons on its shoulders and two smaller cannons on its arms. "Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-Drive Dragon!"

"Quickly, cover for me!" Chrom ordered, as his Vanguard circle lit up around him. "LIMIT BREAK! FELLOWSHIP CIRCLE!"

Five portals began to form around Chrom, calling forth more units. "May Rain Liberator, Bruno!" A red-brown-haired archer with a golden bow appeared. "Liberator of Silence, Gallatin!" In front of Bruno came another knight, this one in blue armor and his face obscured by a red cloth.

"Call! Beast Deity Yamata Drake!" Another dragon mech, this one light gray with eight heads, suddenly appeared next to Sully. It proceeded to attack the Vowing Saber Dragon, right as the Reversed Thunder Dragon was about to move against Chrom again, but it withstood the flames each of the dragon's head shot from their mouths.

"Liberator of Royalty, Phallon!" A blonde-haired man in gold armor appeared, wielding a large curved sword in his hands. "Future Liberator, Llew!" a young blonde-haired knight in gold armor, wielding a sword and shield, appeared behind Chrom.

"Call! Storm Rider Diamantes! Storm Rider Lysander!" Two more naval soldiers appeared, one wielding two large buster sword-like weapons, the other wielding a more rapier-like weapon. "Go!" Diamantes took the lead, swinging his swords, but Vowing Saber Dragon easily knocked it away.

"And finally, Curved Blade Liberator, Yoseph!" Another gold-armored knight, this one wielding a khopesh, took to the field behind Phallon.

"Azure Dragon!" Sully charged the Vowing Saber Dragon, pulling out her lance once more. The Azure Dragon also took off, swinging one of its clawed fists at the Eradicator. "Now, Stand Trigger! Beast Deity Bright Cobra!" Azure Dragon began to burn with bright blue energy as Yamata Drake raised its heads, roaring at its opponent as one. Distracted, the Vowing Saber Dragon took the Battleroid's attack in full.

"Tetra-Drive Dragon! Unleash your fury!" Virion's dragon was next to attack, firing away with its humongous back cannons as it unleashed a furious burst of seawater. "Stand Trigger! Blue Storm Fleet Angler!" However, a small black dragon got in the way, summoning a wall of energy to divert the Tetra-Drive Dragon's attack (_Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld_). "Damned Perfect Guards!"

"It's alright! Just keep pressing the attack! Chrom, get him!" Ryan said.

"Llew, with me!" Chrom took off into the air, followed closely by the blonde squire. "Critical Trigger! Liberator of Hope, Epona!" However, it was Gallatin that began to glow with almighty power, and the two quickly flickered away from the oncoming counterattack.

Immediately, Ryan's aching head suddenly lurched into overdrive, looking over the three of them. A plan began to form in his mind. "Virion! Sully! Take out his interceptors so Chrom can finish it off!"

"What? Why?" asked Sully.

"Do as he says, quickly!" Chrom said.

"Got it! Yamata Drake, get rid of that other dragon!" Yamata Drake turned its head heads towards Thunder Boom Dragon and incinerated it with one blast. Meanwhile, Lysander, followed quickly by Gallatin and Bruno, quickly tried another quick strike on the Reversed unit, but were quickly greeted with another, albeit lighter-shaded, Guld. (_Wyvern Guard, Guld_)

"It had two Perfect Guards!?" Chrom said. "But that was the best strike we could muster against him!"

"Not if Virion's about to do what I think he's going to do," Ryan said. Chrom gave him a look, to which Ryan replied by calling out to Virion, "Oy! Ruffles! Show us that big lizard's Limit Break!"

"Hah! As if you need to ask!" Virion said proudly. "Lysander, Counterblast! Diamantes, rid us of that lizard warrior!" Lysander nimbly hopped back as a newly refreshed Diamantes surged back into the fray, blades cutting down Rochisin. "Now, LIMIT BREAK!" Virion's Vanguard circle came over Tetra-Drive Dragon. "The Duke of Rosanne commands thee! Rise again with the wind, Tetra-Drive Dragon!" At once, a burst of wind came over the battlefield, and Tetra-Drive Dragon roared as it took aim at Vowing Saber Dragon once.

"Now, die! With magnificence!" Virion declared, taking aim with his bow. "Critical Trigger! Blue Storm Soldier Missile Trooper!" A blue dragonman with multiple missile pods on its back appeared on Tetra-Drive Dragon's head, and together unleashed a flurry of missiles and cannon fire that would surely put Kira Yamato and his Strike Freedom to shame. As the pressurized seawater crashed against it, the Vowing Saber Dragon screeched and fell to the ground, defeated as it disappeared into black dust like its compatriot.

Virion could only grin at the slack-jawed sight of Sully and Lissa. "This is the least of my noble efforts."

Ryan, in spite of his own envy and appreciation for the completed Aqua Force combo, could only sigh and shake his head. "God save us all if we need to see the most."

* * *

Everyone was exhausted from fighting the Reversed Vanguard, but they couldn't stick around with all the wildfires. So, the group headed down the road until they came to an abandoned fort to recover from their ordeal. Ryan, Lissa, and Frederick had some pretty nasty burns on them from the Dauntless Dominate Dragon's flames, and Chrom, Sully, and Virion were also sporting some burns and bruises from the Vowing Saber Dragon's various lightning strikes, but a combination of Lissa's Heal staff and a healing salve known as Vulnerary were enough to treat the worst injuries.

"It seems all the creatures are vanquished," reported Frederick, gesturing to their masked friend. "This one took care of the others."

"Um…I never got to thank you…for before. So, thank you. You were very brave," Lissa said.

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "You really saved our hides out there today. You mind telling me how you obtained that Catchgal Liberator from?"

The masked warrior didn't reply, instead giving them a kind of stern look.

"You saved my sister's life, and mine as well," said Chrom. "My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"

"…you may call me Marth," he answered.

"Marth? After the heroic king of old?" Chrom asked, suddenly interested. "You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?"

"I'm not here to talk about me," Marth said bluntly. "This world teeters at the brink of horrible calamity. What you all saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned."

"Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey, wait!" Lissa called, but Marth was already gone, walking down the path and out of sight.

"Huh…not much of a talker, is he?" Ryan observed.

"His skills lie elsewhere, it appears," said Frederick. "I wager we'll hear his name again. But for now, I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste. If we hurry, we should be in Ylisstol by morning."

"So, wait, we're not going to rest after that Phantom attack?" asked Ryan. Already, he was dreading the answer.

"Time of the essence. If these 'zombies,' as you so call them, are capable of utilizing the power of the Vanguard, then we have no time to waste," Frederick said solemnly. "Now gather your things. We have no time to waste."

Ryan sighed. "I hate life sometimes…"

* * *

_You would think the Risen would be more zombie-like, more apex predator than something out Dungeons and Dragons. Regardless of their composition, the Risen definitely remain some of the tougher foes any of us have faced. And trust me, the adventures our family has don't just stop after the Grimleal War. I'll probably cover them in later installments, but let's just say that out of all the enemies I've faced in my time, the Risen are the only ones that still give me a slight shiver whenever they're mentioned. _

_Marth, despite her Batman schtick, still features prominently in the story. And the reasons why? Well, we'll get to that later. I know I keep saying that a lot, and for many of you who are reading, you already heard this story from everyone and their dog. But this is a story that I'm writing for those who don't know, or prefer the stories told by someone who actually lived them. If you've ever played a game of telephone as a kid, you know what happens to messages as you go around the circle._


	4. Chapter 2: Shepherds

**Chapter 2: Shepherds**

Just as Frederick predicted, the sun had risen in the east as the Shepherds hustled down the road all through the night and came up on Ylisstol. Ylisstol appeared to be pretty big, sprawled out across the plains almost to the horizon from the top of the hill Ryan was standing on. Sully and Virion had decided to move on ahead in order to return to the Shepherds garrison and send word of their return (as well as introduce Virion), but Chrom decided it would be a great idea to introduce Ryan to the exalt. It left him wondering why they also wouldn't introduce Virion, but then Ryan remembered just who Virion is, and decided it was probably for the best.

Ryan was from a small town largely in the middle of nowhere, and as Chrom led him through the streets, he was simply boggled by the number of people out on the streets. And strangely, he almost felt right at home surrounded by all the people. Maybe it was something different from walking around empty campus halls and sidewalks in the past, and he was simply glad for the change.

"It appears the capital was spared the chaos we encountered, thank the gods," Frederick said from nearby. "I see no evidence of the great quake. It must've been limited to the forest."

"Well, that's a relief!" said Lissa.

"I guess so," Ryan said, quickly side-stepping a couple walking down the street. "If people are talking like it didn't even happen, then I'd take that as a good omen, too." _Or maybe they are and I just can't hear them_, he added in his head. Truthfully, he wouldn't know, he'd only been in the country a day and a half at most. Suddenly, a whole group of people on the street stopped at the sound of marching footsteps.

"Look! The exalt has come to see us!" shouted a villager.

Ryan quickly increased his pace to keep up with the others, just in time to see the Exalt make her way down the road. The exalt was a young woman, maybe about his age or even slightly younger. She wore a robe of simple green with white trim, roman numerals sewn around the front and a hairpiece sticking up the back of her head to give some kind of halo-like effect. She had dirty-blonde hair a lot like Lissa's, in two long curls that flow down her head. More than a few villagers started cheering, and she simply waved back with a kind of motherly smile. She glanced at Ryan for a moment, and he can see a mark prominently on her forehead, identical to the one on Chrom's shoulder.

"So that's the person in charge of Ylisse, hm?" Ryan asked.

"Yes. Her name is Lady Emmeryn," explained Frederick.

"Are you sure it's okay for her to be out and about with the villagers like this? I mean, it's not like she's going around unguarded, but still you'd think this would draw some more…unsavory characters, doncha think?"

"The exalt is a symbol of peace-Ylisse's most prized quality," Frederick continued with a smile. "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the fell dragon Grima tried to destroy the world. But the first exalt joined forces with the divine dragon Naga and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us of all the peace we fought for in those days."

"We need people like her, especially if brigands and countries like Plegia are poking at our borders," Chrom added. "She's a calming presence, when some might otherwise call for war."

"Something Chrom's very familiar with!" Lissa piped up with a grin, which earned a flat look from her brother.

Ryan chuckled. "I don't doubt that. Either way, the Ylisseans are lucky to have someone like her."

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa continued.

"I best she is…oh wait hold on she's your SISTER!?" Ryan asked, suddenly remembering the mark on her forehead and how it was the same as on Chrom's shoulder. "But…if she's your sister…then that makes you guys…"

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes. You remember Chrom's name and not this?" Frederick smiled.

"But…if you're of the royal family, then what was the deal with that Shepherd stuff?" Ryan was now very confused. By this point, his conceptions of the trio had been that they were travelling mercenaries, but they were apparently royalty?

"We are Shepherds…in a way," Chrom said. "We just happen to have a lot of sheep, is all."

Ryan's brain felt ready to short-circuit under this new information. Add to the fact that he'd been walking most of the way with no sleep and practically exhausted since the last fight, and it was a surprise he hadn't gone clinically insane yet. Or maybe he did go insane somehow and all this was all him being delusional.

"Chrom…sorry, Prince Chrom! Milord, please, forgive my dreadful manners!" Ryan said.

Chrom smiled as he always did. "Just Chrom is fine. I've never been much for formalities as it is."

Okay. Good. "So I've been travelling in the presence of royalty this whole time…Jesus Helsinki Christ…well, I guess that also explains why Frederick puts up with the two of you constantly making jibes at him."

"Indeed," Frederick sighed. "Oh, the sacrifices I make for the good of the realm…"

Ryan laughed slightly. "I feel at home already."

"Well, by the look of things, Emm is returning to the palace. Would you like to meet her?" asked Chrom.

"Oh, wait, now you ask me?" Ryan asked with a wry grin. "I thought you guys had decided on that since we before we showed up in Ylisstol proper."

Chrom grinned back at him. "Come on. Emm would be happy to meet you."

* * *

The group followed Emmeryn's entourage up through the streets of Ylisstol until they arrived in the castle, which stood high above the town on a large hill with walls that stretch even higher. Stepping past the white walls inside, Ryan could see a large throne of some kind of wood made of some kind of dark wood, probably cherry, and a long dark green tapestry, but Emmeryn wasn't on it, but instead waiting for her siblings past the columns into the throne room. Considering Ryan was still wearing his bloodied, burnt, and ripped shirt and jeans and looked like he hadn't had a good sleep since he got here, he was looked a right mess. Ryan took a moment to spit into his hands to try and settle down his hair, then cleaned his glasses with the bottom of his shirt, and made his way into the throne room as Chrom and Lissa went to go meet their sisters.

"Chrom! Lissa! Welcome home," Emmeryn greeted, embracing her two siblings happily before she rises to greet Frederick. "And good day, Sir Frederick. How fared you all?"

"Well, we shouldn't have any bandit problems for a while," said Chrom.

"Wonderful. And what of the people?"

"Safe as they can be, Emm. We still need to watch the borders, though. The brigands crossed over from Plegia."

"Forgive me, milord. My pegasus knights should have intercepted them." Ryan looked up at the foreign voice, and realized that there was someone else there with Emmeryn, a woman with white-blue hair and red eyes, dressed in a short blue dress and a set of bronze armor. Clearly, she was meant to fit the same role as Frederick was to Chrom and Lissa, though the reason for the short, almost higher-cut than even absolutely necessary dress was a mystery to him.

"No, Phila," Chrom shook his head. "Your duty was here, with the exalt."

"Besides, we had plenty of help along the way!" Lissa said, looking over at me. At once, Ryan's nerves shifted from neutral to fourth gear. Job interviews were nerve-wracking enough, but now he was meeting the equivalent of the President of the United States. Or, considering Emmeryn's robe, maybe the Pope.

"Ah, you speak of your new companion here?" Emmeryn asked, looking over at Ryan. She seemed interested in him, but somehow she also exuded a kind of calming presence, and for all the world, Ryan might as well have been meeting a new teacher for the first time instead of a ruler of the free world.

"This is Ryan King. He fought bravely with us against the brigands, and has suffered his fair share of wounds along the way," Chrom said, motioning for him to step forward. "I've decided to name him as a Shepherd."

Emmeryn smiled a warm smile. "It sounds as though Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Ryan King."

"Not at all, milady Exalt," Ryan said politely with a bow, trying to keep a nervous squeak out of his voice.

Then, Frederick spoke up. "Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak. Ryan claims to be of a land known as the United States of America, but his claim is just that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that he is a brigand himself or even a Plegian spy."

"Frederick!" Chrom turns to the Great Knight, looking rather insulted at Frederick's remark.

Ryan groaned, massaging the center of his forehead. "Seriously? Frederick, if I wanted to hurt you, Chrom, or Lissa, do you think I would've waited?" Ryan then turned back to Emmeryn. "Milady, I assure you I have no intentions of hurting you or your siblings. In fact, I owe Chrom my life."

Emmeryn paused for only a moment before turning to Chrom. "You allowed him into the castle, Chrom. Does this man have your trust?"

"Yes. He risked himself for our people," Chrom replied without hesitation. "That's good enough for me. And while he does have a unique…ability with the power of the Vanguard, he has only used them to defend us and our fellow Ylisseans."

"Vanguard abilities, you say?" Emmeryn asked. "To which Clan do you belong, Ryan?"

Ryan was briefly taken aback, as he wasn't expecting the question from Emmeryn, but quickly cleared his throat to cover up his surprise. "Dimension Police, milady."

"Dimension Police," Emmeryn repeated, nodding sagely. "I must say, Dimension Police is a rarity in Ylisse." Ryan wilted slightly, unsure if the statement was a positive one, but Emmeryn's smile remained. "Well, Ryan. It seems you've earned Chrom's faith, and as such you have mine as well."

"Thank you, milady. I assure you, your trust is not misplaced," Ryan said with another bow. Frederick, once again, didn't appear all that convinced.

"But thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always," Emmeryn added, giving a smile to Frederick as well. "Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian. I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time…"

"They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace," Frederick said glibly, bowing respectfully. Ryan fought down a laugh by biting his upper lip. "Phila, I assume you've heard about the deathly creatures we encountered, yes?"

"Yes, milord. They've been sighted all across Ylisse," Phila nodded. "Chrom, we are about to hold council. I was hoping you could join us."

"Of course," Chrom said.

"Aaaaand I think that's our cue, Ryan!" Lissa said brightly. "C'mon, there's a place I want to show you."

"Before you go, Lissa, I think you might want to take Ryan to see the tailor first," Chrom stopped her for a moment. "I don't know about you, but I have a feeling he's going to need a fresh set of clothes."

"Sure thing," said Lissa, before she took Ryan by the hand and pulled him out of the castle.

* * *

For a girl who was younger than Chrom, and probably younger than Ryan by a good margin by extension, Lissa had a pretty firm grip and didn't lack in strength at all. She practically dragged him out of the castle, down into town, through the streets, and around more than a few corners until they came to a stop around what Ryan figured was the east side of town, based on the position of the sun over the rooftops and city walls.

"Let's just hope she's in…" Lissa peeked inside the store, and then waved Ryan in. "Come on in, Ryan!"

Ryan stepped inside. The inside of the shop didn't appear all that much different from what I was expecting, with rolls of fabric and various tools on workbenches…but then all of a sudden, a female figure with dark red hair and red-brown eyes popped up right in his face, staring at him with all the curiosity of someone looking at a rattlesnake in the reptile house, causing Ryan to jump backward. "What the hell!?"

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to get a good look at my new customer. I'm Anna," the woman said, extending a hand. Ryan naturally went to shake it, but when she grabbed his hand, she flung him off towards a corner of the shop. "So, Lissa, I take it you want me to help this poor unfortunate soul out?"

"Yup! Chrom wanted me to get some new clothes for our newest Shepherd!" Lissa chirped happily.

"You two know each other, I assume?" Ryan asked Lissa as Anna whips out some measuring tape, measuring me in ways and places he had no idea mattered.

"Anna's one of the best tailors in town," Lissa replied. "My friend Maribelle introduced her to me last year and trust me, she'd be irate if she knew I went somewhere else."

"Am I going to be meeting this Maribelle later?"

"Pretty sure. She is a Shepherd, after all!"

Anna finally broke off, tapping her chin thoughtfully. It's the kind of thing Ryan would expect to see from a chess grandmaster trying to feign stupidity right before she dropped the hammer and declared checkmate. "You know, Lissa, I've actually got a set up in the loft that I've been reserving for just this occasion! I'll be right back!" With that, she zipped upstairs, leaving the two of them alone.

"…okay, whatever she drinks in the morning, I need a sample," Ryan said to Lissa.

"Oh, she doesn't drink anything. She's just very motivated by money," Lissa replied.

Ryan chuckled. "I guess she would be."

Suddenly, Lissa's face grew serious. "Ryan…why do you know so much about Vanguard?"

"Hm?" Ryan asked.

"Those things we fought in the forest…I don't think any one of us would've been able to figure out what they could do as quickly as you did. So that means you know a lot about Vanguard, right?"

"I know my fair share. What brings this up?"

Lissa nodded understandingly as Anna quickly zipped back in, carrying a few items in her arms, and shoved Ryan towards a cover nearby. "Alright, here we go!"

As Anna removed Ryan's clothes with startling speed and efficiency, Lissa continued. "There are a lot of people who know a lot about Vanguard here in Ylisse. Some people have been studying it for years, but even then they don't know anything. But you…you seemed to have this knack for figuring out strategy with Vanguard. Like how you told my brother and Sully and that Virion guy to go for the…what'd you call them? Interceptors? Do they have Vanguard in America?"

Ryan opened his mouth, but closed it, unable to piece his words together. Explaining Vanguard was a children's card game from Japan was easy. Explaining he had access to multiple databases with information on Vanguard thanks to the Internet was hard, but doable. But trying to explain his overarching knowledge on the strategy of Vanguard across Clans and various deck styles seemed hard to accomplish, especially considering he was already exhausted from travelling the whole night on little sleep as well as meeting Emmeryn earlier. Thankfully, Ryan was rescued by Anna finally shoving him back out from the cover in front of a waiting full-length mirror. "So, what do you think?"

Ryan had to admit: he did look a lot better now than he did before. In the place of his torn Coyotes t-shirt and burnt jeans was a white shirt and brown leggings, as well as a pair of proper boots as opposed to his wushu shoes, which were not meant for long-distance treks. Admittedly, he looked more like a pirate at first glance, but considering where he was, that actually made him look the part of a Shepherd. "Not bad. I like it."

"I do too, but…" Lissa said, also giving Ryan an appraising look. "I just feel like there's something missing, ya know?"

"Ah! I know just the thing!" Anna said, quickly dashing over to a nearby table, and holding out something. "Every badass tactician needs a badass longcoat!"

Ryan was about to question how she could even suggest he was the tactician of the group, but the question died on his lips as he was more interested in the longcoat Anna had brought. The coat was a sedona red piece, with black around the shoulders and neck, trimmed in a dark yellow. He slowly reached out and took it, putting it on. A kind of childish grin spread on Ryan's face as he swirled it around a couple of times, getting the feel of the piece. "I like it! It's very Sanger Zonvolt…"

"Who's Sanger Zonvolt?" Lissa asked, producing a bag of gold pieces to pay for Ryan's clothes.

Anna quickly swiped it away. "I'll tell you about him when you're older, sweetie."

Ryan's head shot up at that remark, wondering just how Anna could even know about a fictional character in a place that hadn't even discovered radio, let alone TV or video games, but before Ryan could ask her about it, Lissa had already grabbed his hand again and was dragging him out of the store to their next destination.

* * *

Lissa led Ryan back through the city back up into the north side of town, where they reached a large building not far from the road leading back up to the castle. The insignia on the top of the building was a large blue shield with two angel wings on it, of which Ryan guessed was the Shepherds garrison and his new digs. Once he stepped inside, Ryan was greeted by the sight of two people: one looked like a Fighter with short blonde hair slicked back, wearing nothing but armor on his right arm, a chain necklace, and a pair of blue leggings, casually holding onto an axe. The other appeared to be another Pegasus Knight, this one wearing a maroon dress with a purple chestplate and what looked like a hairpiece in the shape of wings in her long brown hair.

"Here we are! Welcome to the Shepherd's garrison! Go on, make yourself at home," Lissa said.

The garrison had the feeling of a base, but with only a handful of people it seemed to be wide open, with stone walls and barrels of ale stacked across the way and sacks of what he assumed was food and other supplies against the walls. There were also tables around, some with a few other people I could barely make out in the back, but the others empty.

"Lissa, my treasure! Are you alright? I've been on pins and needles!" One of those figures, upon hearing Lissa, suddenly dashed right over, a young woman with hair in long curls much like Emmeryn earlier, although not as long as the exalt's, and in her hands was a folded parasol.

"Oh, hey, Maribelle!" Lissa chirped.

"'Oh, hey' yourself!" Maribelle countered, clearly wanting smack Lissa on the wrist with the parasol. "I've sprouted 14 gray hairs fretting over you!"

"Aw, you worry too much! I can handle a battle or two!" said Lissa. "…aside from the bugs and the bear barbecue…"

"You missed out, Lissa. It was pretty good," Ryan cracked, unable to resist poking at her a little. She simply glared at him in response.

"Hey, squirt! Where's Chrom?" asked the Fighter. "I bet he had a rough time without ol' Teach and his trusty axe!"

"Oh, so you're 'Teach' now, Vaike, is that it?" asked Lissa. "Hee hee! And here I thought people were just born lacking wits! It can be taught?"

"Ha! Never doubt the Vaike…wait, was that an insult?"

"Hah!" Ryan snorted. "Now THAT is funny!"

Vaike turned to Ryan, looking mildly annoyed at the remark, but the Pegasus Knight in the corner came in before any blows were thrown. "Beg pardon, but when can we see the captain?"

"Poor Sumia…she's been beside herself with concern," sighed Maribelle. "Her eyes were scanning the horizon all day during training…she might have earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded."

"Aw, Sumia, that's so nice of you to worry about Chrom," said Lissa.

"Worry?" Sumia asked, going red in the face. "He's our captain and our prince! Of course I'd worry!"

"So, who's the stranger?" asked Vaike, looking towards Ryan. "Is he a new guy like that Archer who showed up earlier with Sully?"

"No one's stranger than you, Vaike," Lissa cracked, earning another glare from the Fighter. "But this is our newest recruit! He joined yesterday, and he's going to be our new tactician!"

"The name's Ryan King. How's it hanging?" Ryan asked.

Vaike grinned broadly, Sumia merely nodded her greeting, but now it was Maribelle's turn to glare at him, apparently annoyed at his choice of words.

"You should see some of the tricks Ryan's got hidden up his sleeve!" Lissa continued.

"Oh, really? Can he do this?" asked Vaike. He proceeded to take a deep breath…and then proceeded to give off a belch that probably could've gone on for days if he had the lung capacity and loud enough to shake the foundations.

"I'm sure I've got plenty to learn in the art of belching, 'Teach,'" Ryan grinned.

"Ugh, Vaike, that was abhorrent!" Maribelle rounded on Vaike. Ryan was unsure of it due to his lack sleep, but he could've sworn he saw righteous flames of indignation erupting behind her. "Must you baseborn oafs pollute the very air with your buffoonery!? And you, Ryan! Don't encourage him! I'd hoped you were cut from finer cloth!"

Ryan glared at Maribelle over my glasses. "Hey! Free tip, Maribelle: giving me lip? It's a _really _bad idea." Unfortunately, the attempt at intimidation didn't exactly work as she simply left with a "hmph!"

"Don't take it to heart, Ryan. Maribelle warms to people slowly," said Sumia.

"Or burns too quickly!" cracks Lissa. "But yeah, just give her time."

Ryan took a breath to calm myself, adjusting his glasses. "Yeah, I guess…"

Chrom returned at that point, entering in through the doorway. Sumia brightened up like a Christmas tree and went to go meet him. "Ah! Captain! You've returned! I was…I mean…we were so…" As she stammered her way through, she accidentally slipped on a few pieces of parchment on the ground. But she doesn't just slip, she falls and faceplanted into the stone floor.

"Ouch. With a capital O," Ryan observed.

"Sumia, are you alright! …those boots of yours again?" Chrom asked.

"No! I mean, yes! I mean…" she started, and then blew out a sigh. From Ryan's standpoint, the boots seemed to be fitting her just fine, so he figured she was just a big klutz.

Chrom helped Sumia back to her feet. "Alright, listen everyone: tomorrow morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna whatnow?" Ryan asked.

"A unified kingdom to Ylisse's north. Inhabited by barbarians, or so it's said," Sumia explained.

"Warriors are what they are, and with these new menaces that have been popping up, we'll be needing their strength," Chrom continued. "Typically, the exalt would request such aid in person. But given recent events…well, the people might worry should my sister leave the capital, so the task has been passed to us. Now, this mission is strictly voluntary, so if, for any…"

"I volunteer!" Lissa cut in, raising her hand.

"Me too! You'll be needin' ol' Teach along for such a delicate mission!" boomed Vaike.

"I'll go as well," said another voice, but it was rather soft and Ryan couldn't pinpoint it right away. As he turned to seek out the source, he found it belonged to, of all people, a Knight, with white and yellow armor and black bowl-style haircut.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked.

"You actually saw me!?" the Knight asks in surprise. "That's a first…I'm Kellam. I've actually been here the whole time…"

"Kellam, huh? I'm Ryan, I'm the new guy in town," Ryan extended his hand, which Kellam shook whole-heartedly. "And Chrom? I'm in too."

Sumia, however, didn't appear all that excited. "I…um…"

"Yes, Sumia?" asked Chrom.

Sumia jumped slightly. "It's just that…I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a proper mission just yet. I'd probably just get in the way."

Ryan pursed his lips, musing on the situation. "If it's alright with you, Chrom, maybe Sumia can stick to the rear in the main group and she can simply observe if we get into a tango?"

"A sound plan, Ryan. You're starting to get the hang of this," Chrom nodded. "But a word of advice, Sumia: some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield."

"W-well, if you and Ryan think it wise, Captain," Sumia nodded.

Chrom smiled. "Just stay by me and you'll be fine."

"Oh yes! I mean…yes, I will, Captain!" Sumia nodded again, more vigorously this time.

* * *

The rest of the day was largely uneventful. Once Ryan was shown to his room in the barracks, took a much-needed nap on the bed after skipping sleep to get to Ylisstol all the way until dinner, and dinner was mostly talk about the trip to Regna Ferox, which, from what Ryan could gather, was some place that was very cold. Great. Just great. Ryan, of course, was from the desert, and could only wish that the Sanger Zonvolt coat that Ryan was given by Anna was relatively thick, or he would be a popsicle before hitting snow.

The next morning, Ryan was promptly awoken by the smell of muffins. As he got out of bed, he noticed that his old clothes were on the foot of his bed. By the look of it, someone had taken the opportunity to mend his clothes, although very poorly. The threading on shirt was the wrong color and the stitches were completely uneven. As he checked over his jeans, he saw something poking out of the back pocket.

He recognized it at once: it was his wallet.

Ryan took it out and opened it, making his way out of the barracks and towards the mess hall as he did. All of his stuff was in there; driver's license, college ID card, social security number, both of his credit cards, even the library card he hadn't used in at least three years was in it. There was even money in it, even though it was only five dollars' worth and some additional change.

"What'cha got there, Ryan?"

Ryan looked up and saw that Lissa was waiting for him outside the mess hall. The smell of fresh breakfast was becoming way too hard ignore, and he proceeded to walk right past her. "Oh, hey, Lissa. Are those muffins I smell?"

"You know that's not answering my question, right?" Lissa asked as Ryan took a seat at the table. And sure enough, on the table is a plate full of muffins.

"Sorry, I'm just a sucker for muffins," Ryan said as he grabbed one and took a bite, and immediately sank into a blueberry heaven. "You were saying?"

"I was wondering what you had in your hand there," Lissa said, looking at his wallet curiously.

"It's my wallet. I found it in my old jeans when I woke up this morning," Ryan replied, flipping it open for her. "And all my stuff is still in there."

Lissa took it, looking at the black and yellow folded leather in her hand. "Is this an American thing? What's it for?"

"It's like a purse, except for guys. We use it to hold money and other pertinent things."

Lissa reached for his driver license first, pulling it out of its pocket to look at it. "Is this a picture of you? Wow! It's so small, and yet it's so accurate! How do you do that?"

Ryan bit into another muffin to hide the fact that his ears were starting to burn with embarrassment. "Well, we figured out a few tricks in America."

"And there's another one! And this writing is so miniscule! How can anyone write this small and on something that isn't parchment!" Lissa said excitedly, looking at his college ID. Ryan tried not to groan as Lissa continued to look through his wallet to find other interesting things to gush about.

* * *

After stuffing himself with some muffins (and keeping a few in his coat for the trip with his wallet), Ryan went back to the barracks, packed up his things, and head out through the north gate of the city, down the road up to the foothills leading further north up into the mountains, which was where Chrom said everyone was to meet before they head out on the trip to Regna Ferox. Chrom, Lissa, Sumia, Virion, and Vaike are already waiting, but Kellam was nowhere to be found, but Ryan assumed he'd show up on his own.

"Is everyone ready? We've a long march ahead of us," said Chrom.

"W-wait for us!"

Ryan turned around, expecting to see Kellam, but instead another Cavalier comes in, with green armor much like Sully's and short brown hair that looked a lot like Ryan's own. Also astride his horse was another person, a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a short blue dress reminiscent of Sumia's, but longer and without a breastplate. Ryan recognized her immediately, his jaw falling open. "Regan!?"

"Ryan!" Ryan's younger sister quickly dismounted, practically tackling her older, taller, and heavier brother to the ground in her embrace. "Oh my god I can't believe I found you and my face is tingly right now but I really missed yoooooou…!"

Chrom stared at Ryan, with Regan practically hanging around his neck, half-giggling and half-crying. "You two know each other?"

"Yes, yes we do," Ryan explained, trying to keep himself steady with the weight around him. "This is Regan, she's my younger sister…well, one of them anyway. Regan, can you let go of me now? You're gonna snap my neck."

"Hug me first!"

Ryan put his arms around his sister. "Fine, fine." Regan then lessened her grip on Ryan, before finally letting go of her brother.

The Cavalier coughed, trying to get back on topic. "Anyway…why were we the last to hear about this expedition to Ferox?"

"Huh? Vaike was supposed to…" Lissa began, then realized what had happened. "Vaike! Did you forget to tell Stahl about our mission?!"

"The Vaike never forgets! …I just don't always remember, is all…" Vaike countered. Chrom sighed, Lissa groaned, Ryan facepalmed. This was probably what Gordon Ramsay felt like all the time.

"I swear, you'd forget your own name if you weren't constantly saying it yourself!" Lissa said. "Speaking of which, are you sure you remembered your axe this time?"

"Hey! That was one time!" Vaike countered indignantly. "…okay, twice, but training sessions don't count. Anyway, I got it right here. Teach is loaded and ready for action!" Vaike held up his axe to illustrate his point. "Glad to have you along, Stahl, ol' buddy."

"That makes one of us," Stahl deadpanned. "I was in such a hurry, I had to miss breakfast! There were muffins, and cakes…"

"And pancakes! Don't forget the pancakes!" Regan chimed in.

"That too," agreed Stahl. "Anyway, I'll tell about while we march."

"Sorry about that, Ryan. This is Stahl, one of our finest," Chrom said blandly.

"I'm Ryan," Ryan said, holding out his hand.

"Hello, Ryan. Miriel told me we had a new Shepherd," Stahl shook it.

"Miriel? Who's that?" Ryan said, unable to place a face he'd seen recently with the name.

"Er, Miriel's one of our mages. She should catch up soon," Stahl explained.

"Ah," Ryan nodded, turning to his sister. "So, Regan, how did you get tangled up with Stahl here?"

However, further conversation was cut short as Frederick suddenly showed up with Sully, coming in full pelt, ostensibly from scouting further down the road "Milord! Enemies on the path ahead!"

"What!? Stand ready, everyone, and follow me!" Chrom motioned, leading the Shepherds dashes down the road, Regan and Ankh included. As we crest atop a few nearby hills to reach the road north, I can clearly see a number of those zombie things from our adventure in the forest. And they weren't just limited to Fighters and the odd Mercenary, this was a complete force of enemies across several classes.

"These things again? Oh, come on!" Ryan said.

"Gods!" shouts Chrom angrily. "Have the Risen spread this far?"

"Risen? Is that what we're calling them now?" I ask.

"We needed a name for this new threat, so the council gave them one," Frederick explained. "Hence, Risen."

"I still think we should just call them zombies," Regan said brightly, producing a yellow-colored book decorated with a lightning bolt. At once, Ryan's brain recognized his sister as a Mage.

"Everyone, remember what we're up against!" Chrom said, drawing his sword.

"Mya ha! They'll remember me once I drive my axe into their…" Vaike began, and then stopped as he looked around wildly for said axe. "Wait. My axe. Where's my axe?! I had it a second a go!"

"This is no time for jokes, Vaike," Chrom deadpanned.

"I'm serious! It's gone, but I just had it!" Vaike insisted. "It's got be around here somewhere…"

"Keep to the rear, then! The battle is nigh!" Chrom shook his head. Vaike groans and makes his way into the back with Virion, Sumia, and Lissa.

Frederick cleared his throat, taking up the role of second-in-command. "Alright, everyone, listen up! _Especially _those of you brought your weapons!" Vaike flinched at the statement. "Our mission is simple: destroy all the Risen! They're barely half a day from Ylisstol, we need to cut them down now before they get any closer to the city proper! If you see that they are being led by an armored figure that is different from the others, notify me, the prince, or Ryan at once! And keep your ears up, Ryan and Chrom will be issuing orders for this battle! Understood?" Everyone nodded, their faces a picture of professionalism. "Very good. Now let's get to work!"

Chrom nodded. "Thank you, Frederick. Ryan, do you have a strategy ready?"

Ryan look out over the enemy forces, and immediately he could see a Mercenary, and an axe-wielding Ruffian spread out up ahead. Ryan had a feeling there's another Risen in one of the small outposts up ahead, but he couldn't see them from his current position. There were other forces out across the bridge, but they're too far out to identify yet, so he'd have to adjust the plan once they cleared out the enemies they could see.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Ryan said, drawing his sword. "Frederick, take the Mercenary on the left. He's hiding in the trees, but he shouldn't be too much trouble for you."

"Understood!" Frederick nodded and went galloping off.

"Now this part we have to improvise a little. Mostly because _somebody _forgot their axe," Ryan said.

"Hey, I'm sorry, alright!?" Vaike shouts indignantly.

"Anyway, Sully, you'll take Lissa and go straight down the middle! Stahl, Virion, go with her," the two Cavaliers nodded as Lissa and Virion boarded their horses and galloped off. "Chrom, you and I will take that Ruffian on the right. Vaike, Regan, stick with us, and be ready to back us up! Now let's go save the world one more time!"

With that, Ryan dashed off with Chrom towards the Ruffian, Regan, and Vaike right behind. The Risen growls, hefting its axe and charging right back them. "Regan, Chrom, take it now!"

Chrom roars, zipping forward in a flying lunge. The Risen tries to attack as well, but Chrom is faster, catching it in the side. As he jumped to the side, Regan opened her book, waving her free hand as lightning danced between her fingers. "Thunder!"

Ryan could feel his hair stand on end for a brief second before quickly breaking off. A second later, a forked bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the Risen right on its head. Between these attacks, the Risen fell apart easily under the assault. Chrom motioned with his off-hand, urging them forward to regroup with the others down the middle. As they went, Ryan could see that three more Risen had joined the fray, two lance-wielding Soldiers and another Ruffian. Sully and Stahl are good, but their weapons would put them at a disadvantage, and Virion's bow isn't going to be all that great at tipping the scales. Ryan _really _wished Vaike hadn't lost his axe.

"Sully, Stahl! Back off! Frederick, Virion, cover them!" Ryan shouted as they came back across into the fray. The Cavaliers backed off, Virion and Lissa right behind. One of the Soldiers broke off from Stahl and goes after Ryan, another went for Regan. Ryan attempted a downward parry against the lance, which cut into the side of his leg, and then the Risen's shield crashed into his body, sending him to the ground.

"Ryan, stay down!" Ryan's hair raised up again, and another lightning bolt came down from the sky onto the Risen's head, slaying it. Shifting his head, he quickly lashed out with one of his legs and wrapped it around the other Risen's ankle as it tried going after Regan with an ersatz toe-hold. While not tripping it, it did stagger, and turned around to stab Ryan for the offending move. And then Chrom caught the Risen Soldier by surprise and takes it out with his sword.

Meanwhile, Regan sidestepped Ryan and Chrom as she pointed at the Ruffian's back, firing a third blast of lightning. At the same time, Frederick came galloping in like an avenging angel and stabs into it with his own sword. Ryan quickly scrambled to his feet and grabbed his sword, but fell to his knees as his injured leg burned in response. Regan quickly shifted to protect her brother, but instead of lightning striking it, it suddenly spontaneously combusted, vanishing into the air.

"What the…" Ryan began.

"It appears my timing was chronologically advantageous." A woman dressed in a black Mage's robes, with floppy hat and all, came over. She had neatly trimmed red hair and glasses, and was carrying a red magical tome. Ryan knew what it was she just said, but he was wondering who in the bluish flaming hell talked like that.

Stahl seemed perfectly happy to see her, though. "Hey, Miriel! Nice timing!"

"Is that not what I just said?" Miriel asked.

"Agh…never mind," Stahl sighed.

"Very well," the woman said, adjusting her glasses. "Next question: who among you was foolish enough to leave their axe behind?" She held up an iron axe, which a certain someone recognized instantly.

"Hey! My axe!" Vaike dashed over, taking the axe from Miriel. "Thanks, Miriel! …er, for the axe, anyway."

Miriel sighed. "I was wondering what manner of ignoramus would mislay their weapon. And now I know. Perhaps next time I'll use a spell to fasten it to your hands…permanently."

"Would you? It'd make things so much easier," Ryan said with a wry grin.

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Vaike glared at him.

Ryan just shrugged at him in response before turning to everyone else. "How's everybody doing?"

"I took a bit of a nasty hit, but Lissa was right on top of it and helped me out right away," Sully remarked. Lissa beamed like the sun at the remark.

"I'm okay, mostly…" Stahl said. "Nothing a little vulnerary can't fix." Already he was applying the salve to the stab wound he'd received.

"Chrom? Regan? Virion?" Regan flashed Ryan a thumbs-up. Chrom signaled he was okay, and Virion does the same. "Good, good good…Stahl, toss me some of that vulnerary, will ya?" Stahl tossed him a brown capsule of some sort, to which Ryan opened to reveal a gray-white half-solid substance inside. Ryan took a swipe on his fingers and applied it to the gash on his leg. It burned, but he could put his weight on it. "Anybody got eyes on that second group?"

"I see…seven enemies. Two axe guys, two sword guys, two lance and shield guys, and the leader, with an axe, waaaay in the back," Regan said.

Ryan looked over at Regan in confusion, wondering how she was able to spot them from such a distance. Chrom also seemed to be a fair bit suspicious, but he at least put it aside. "Right. What next, Ryan? Guide our swords."

Ryan clapped his hands, closing his eyes as he adopted his thinking position, placing two fingers on each hand on the center of his forehead. It seemed easy enough, but he wanted to make sure his composition was still up to par. Six foes, carrying two lances, axes, and swords apiece. He had plenty of lances and swords of his own, but only one axe user. Granted, he also had a Mage and an Archer on my side, so he'd need to use Virion and Miriel to tip the scales.

"Okay. Sully, Virion. You will head left. Virion, I want you to back Sully up from the rear, and be careful. Lissa, stick to Frederick, I need you to watch for anybody that might need a healer and Frederick to get you there as soon as it happens. Chrom, Miriel, you and I will head right, we'll take the axe guy. Stahl, Regan, Vaike, you go after the lance guys. Regan, you're the mage. You light them up when they get close and let Stahl and Vaike do the rest."

"Got it!" Regan grinned, turning to the Soldiers as they charged at Stahl and Vaike, while her brother left with Chrom and Miriel. "Thunder!"

Another lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking one of the soldiers. Stahl took the opportunity to go after the one Regan struck, spearing it through the middle with his own lance. Vaike quickly spun around the other Soldier's lance, then swung his axe right on the Risen's head, laying the zombie monster's head open. As the two Risen began to disappear, the Risen Chief came charging, swinging its own axe. Vaike gave an undignified squeak and stumbled backward, but Stahl quickly rescued his fellow Shepherd from the zombie leader's axe swing, pulling him into the saddle. "Careful, Vaike!"

Apparently undaunted by its failed surprise attack, the Risen Chief crossed its arms, drawing power into itself in the form of a dark cloud of mist. When it vanished, it was replaced by a short humanoid creature in kabuki makeup, with a traditional Japanese kite attached to its back. (_Kite Stealth Fiend, Goemon_). It suddenly took off into the air, unleashing a hail of knives from the gust of wind in its wake.

"Incoming!" Regan called, quickly going to the ground as the knives fell around her.

"Hang on, Regan!" Stahl came galloping in, a green Vanguard circle lighting up behind him. Vaike's purple Vanguard circle also lit up as he jumped off of Stahl's saddle. "Stand up, Vanguard! Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer!" Stahl's armor transformed, turning black and gold with a matching helm in the design of a horse. The sword in his hand changed as well, becoming a curved purple saber.

"Stand up, Vanguard! Smart Leader, Dark Bringer!" Vaike's body also transformed, giving him horns, black wings, and a pointed tail, and dressed in a black and white football uniform. "Come on, Regan! Time to show what you got!"

"Right!" Regan said, getting to her feet and performing a twirl as her yellow Vanguard circle lit up. "Stand up, Vanguard! Sphere Magus!" In a flash, her clothes changed and were thus replaced by a pink tutu, orange and blue greaves, and a large white hat. A large golden rod appeared in her hand, which she promptly waved and pointed at Goemon. "Thunder!"

Another lightning bolt came down, but Goemon shot to the side, avoiding the blast. Vaike threw the metal spiked football he was carrying at Goemon, but it kicked the football away, aiming it towards Stahl instead, causing him to turn away from attacking him as it exploded. It chuckled, a hollow, dark sounding thing, and then transformed again, turning into a light purple-skinned demon in a purple and black armor, wielding a poisoned ninjato. (_Stealth Rogue of Silence, Shijimamaru_) More motes of black dust began to pool around it, one pool behind it forming into a tanuki armed with a small katana (_Stealth Beast, Leaf Raccoon_), and Goemon appeared off to the tanuki's side. Then Shijimamaru launched into its attack, followed by Leaf Raccoon, going after Stahl first. Stahl parried the attack away, but then Leaf Raccoon tackled him off his horse. As Vaike dived at the Risen Vanguard in a diving dropkick, Shijimamaru swung its ninjato as Vaike soared past him, slashing into his leg.

Regan spun her staff, attempting to cast Thunder again, but Shijimamaru vanished in a puff of smoke. Regan quickly spun around, intercepting the attack coming at her from behind with her staff, but was promptly kicked away regardless.

"Regan!" Ryan could see the battle unfold behind the Risen he was fighting with Chrom and Miriel. Almost immediately, he redoubled his efforts to finish off the Risen in question with a quick stab through the mouth. "Chrom, we gotta get over there!"

"Go on then! I'll take care of this one!" Chrom said, guarding against the other Risen's attack. "Miriel, go with him!"

"At once, captain!" said Miriel with a nod, a lavender Vanguard circle lighting up under her feet. "Stand up, Vanguard! Godhawk Ichibiyoshi!" At once, a large bright blue hawk shot out of the circle, taking off in front of Miriel.

"Stand up, O Vanguard! Dimensional Robo Goyusha!" Ryan's robotic Vanguard appeared from his Vanguard circle, raising its shield as Shijimamaru attempted to go after Regan to block the ninjato. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I got a nice Draw Trigger out of it," said Regan, getting to her feet, looking at Stahl and Vaike. Vaike was hobbling a little on his leg where a gash was, but Stahl was coughing, touching at the spot Leaf Raccoon had charged him. On closer inspection, there was a stab wound in the impact point where his armor had caved in.

"Lissa, get over here and help Stahl, I'll cover you! Vanguard Ride! Dimensional Robo Daibrave!" Ryan's robot Vanguard transformed into its sleeker silver version, armblades shooting out as he shifted his body to protect Stahl. Lissa, riding with Frederick and with Penuel and Kyrph to protect them, quickly came galloping in.

"Vanguard Superior Ride! Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukiyomi!" The hawk spun in the air, blue feathers flying everywhere to reveal a small chibi figure with black hair in a white and red miko's robe. "Fire!" Tsukiyomi waved her arms as Miriel produced her bright red tome, the two of them unleashing a fireball. The attack bounced right off of the Risen Vanguard's armor.

"Vanguard Ride! Circle Magus!" Regan also transformed, her tutu being replaced with a khaki top and skirt with a teal robe, her staff shortening into a scepter with a large circle on it. "Call! Crescent Magus! Ripis Magus!" Two more units, one being a pink-haired girl in white with a scepter of her own, and a woman in electric green with a staff with a crescent moon on the top, appeared at Regan's left while Sphere Magus appeared behind her. "Go get 'em, girls! Drive Charge: Briole Magus!"

Crescent Magus smiled at the second part of Regan's statement, waving her staff as an aura of energy came over Ripis Magus and struck Shijimamaru across the face with her own scepter.

"Vanguard Ride! Cyclone Blitz!" Vaike's Vanguard armor was now dark purple, with a large device like the inside of a satellite dish strapped to the front, as Dark Bringer appeared to his right. "Call, Machine Gun Gloria!" A succubus in black leather and wielding a machine gun suddenly dropped in behind Dark Bringer. Vaike then proceeded to unleash a tornado from the device. "Draw Trigger! Cheergirl Bowlynn!"

Shijimamaru swung its ninjato, slicing the cyclone in half. Vaike spat in the ground, momentarily frustrated, then pointed at the Murakumo unit. "Have at 'em, you two!" Dark Bringer threw its football at it, a red spiral of energy at the tip of the ball, while Gloria fired her machine gun. This time, the attack struck true, causing the demon to stumble back from the assault. "There we go! Now, Dark Bringer, into the soul!" Dark Bringer turned into an orb of light that shot into Vaike, causing a grunt from him before pointing in the spot Dark Bringer was before. "Time for a Superior Call! Reckless Express!" A new unit, this time a football android in silver and red armor with spikes on its shoulder, appeared there, smacking its metallic fists together.

"Oh yeah! No stopping the Vaike when he gets on a roll!" Vaike crowed. However, Shijimamaru cackled, instead transforming once more. Now it was red-skinned with long white hair with a large horn coming out of his forehead. (_Hair Stealth Fiend, Gurenjishi_). Another gust of wind blew, and it carried Goemon from its position on Gurenjishi's right to its left. "…that's weird…"

"Goemon can move to an open rearguard point with a Soulblast…" Ryan said, brows furrowing. "I don't know why it would, though…" And then two more units appeared, one a white cat-like creature in a ninja outfit and haori, twirling multiple kunai in its claws (_Stealth Beast Deathly Dagger), _and the other a blue-furred dog with a kusarigama (_Stealth Fiend Chain Geek_). And then Gurenjishi turned to Mirel, hair suddenly growing rapidly as it reached out to her, restraining the mage and her Vanguard as Leaves Raccoon drew its katana. "Dammit! Miriel, hang on-!"

"Perfect Guard! Weather Forecaster, Miss Mist!" Suddenly a cloud of mist blew out over the melee, summoned by a woman in a bright green dress with a veiled hat. Leaves Raccoon sheathed its katana and doubled back to safety…

"I have you now! Thunder!" Regan fired another lightning bolt from her scepter at Leaves Raccoon, striking it right out of the air. Instead, a log fell to the ground in its place. "What?"

"Regan, look out!" Ryan suddenly kicked his sister to the side, as a large lock of Gurenjishi's hair came flying in. His swift maneuver saved her life, but it wasn't fast enough for much else, as it still ended up slashing right through her side and into her arm, drawing a great deal of blood. Vaike, likewise, wasn't fast enough to see the oncoming attack in time to fully dodge and went down with another blow to the legs. "You okay?"

"Fine…! I think…" Regan groaned.

Ryan looked at his hands, now tinged a damning red. "Lissa!"

"Almost done here! I just gotta finish helping Stahl!" Lissa called.

"Well gimme a Vulnerary or something, so I can treat this! I don't know if I can wait!"

"Fine, fine! Mister Bossy-Boots…" grumbled Lissa, grabbing the salve from her satchel, but stopped in mid-throw. "Ryan, behind you!"

Ryan quickly whirled around with his sword. "Perfect Guard! Dimensional Robo Daishield!" The yellow robot quickly stopped yet another lock of animated hair with its energy shield, protecting both Kings from an identical Gurenjishi in the empty place to the first's side.

"Ogre's foot! Is the Vaike seeing double!?" Vaike asked.

"We're up against a Murakumo user," Ryan grunted. "More than a few units like him have skills that allow them to Superior Call copies of themselves. Lissa, Vulnerary! And now, please!"

Lissa tossed it to him, allowing Ryan to start treating his sister properly. "Here we go. Just let me apply this and then I can get to beating up our zombie friend."

"How about you just give it to me so I can treat it myself?" Regan asked.

"…suit yourself," Ryan put the container in her hands and got up, spinning his sword in his hand. Miriel came over, followed quickly by a revitalized Stahl. "Okay, hotshot. You hurt my sister, you now have my full undivided attention! Vanguard Ride!"

Daibrave glowed, growing and transforming into his bright red gun-wielding avatar. "**Dimensional Robo! KAIZARD!**"

"Vanguard Ride! Scout of Darkness, Vortimer!" Stahl's armor transformed, now adding a black cape to its armor and his sword becoming a proper longsword. "Call! Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin, with me!" Another knight in black and gold armor, surrounded by a myriad of knives on chain, quickly appeared as Stahl charged Gurenjishi.

"Hang on! Let me give you a hand!" Ryan ran after Stahl, pointing to his side. "Call! Dimensional Robo Dailander!" A red and blue hovercraft appeared off to Ryan's side, which Ryan quickly boarded and took off alongside Stahl. "Goyusha, Kaizard, get him!"

Kaizard took off flying as Goyusha boosted forward, armed with his sword, to get at Gurenjishi. "**Dimension Saber!**" However, Gurenjishi quickly zipped away from the smaller Dimension Robo's attack, hair flying to catch the sword.

"**Kaizard Magnum!**" Kaizard aimed its guns, firing multiple shots at it. It struck the demon four times in the chest, and then Kahedin and Stahl stabbed him for good measure. And then, it suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind only logs with bullet holes.

"Logs?" Stahl asked in surprise.

"That defies all logic!" shouted Vaike.

"Not for me, it doesn't. Miriel! On your left!" Ryan said.

"Vanguard Ride! Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukiyomi!" Godhawk Ichibiyoshi came flying out of the Vanguard circle, and Tsukiyomi promptly caught a ride on its back, producing a sword and mirrored shield. "Call! Oracle Guardian Blue Eye! Battle Deity Susano'o!" A large white fox statue with blue tribal patterns appeared behind Tsukiyomi while another chibi figure, this one garbed in ornate samurai armor, came out. Blue Eye's head turned left as Gurenjishi's came flying in, firing blasts from its eyes. Gurenjishi doubled back, and then parried away the oncoming attack from Tsukiyomi.

"This one's tough…what is it, really?" asked Stahl.

"Just be careful if it sprouts black rings. I'd rather not have back-to-back cases today if I can help it…" Ryan said.

"Black rings? What exactly are you talking about?"

"Tell you about it later, assuming it doesn't show up."

The Gurenjishi clone vanished from sight, and immediately began to transform, forming into a black-scaled dragon in black and purple samurai armor, roaring loudly. (_Covert Demonic Dragon, Kagurabloom_) It was swiftly followed by a tengu in a hooded cloak, wielding a pair of kama. (_Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow_), and then another appeared off to the other side of Kagurabloom.

"He's setting up for a huge assault. If we're going to attack him, we'll need to do it quickly!" Ryan said.

"**Kaizard Magnum!**" Kaizard opened fire with its guns again, blasting away at Kagurabloom, but it raised its arms, the bullets ringing off its limbs before unleashing a blast of dark purple flames from its mouth. Leaves Raccoon bounced off Kagurabloom's shoulder and drew its katana, slashing away, with the two Midnight Crows, Goemon, and Deathly Dagger.

Ryan was barely aware of what even happened even as the units retreated. He saw Miriel suddenly collapsing from two major slashes on her back, Stahl crying out as multiple small wounds appeared on his body, including a graze on his cheek. And then, the flames from Kagurabloom washed over him. It wasn't hot, but instead it was cold, almost freezing to the touch, and already he was starting to feel like he was getting sapped of his energy.

And then Regan came bounding in, clothes transforming once again into a yellow top and black shorts, scepter becoming a magic wand. "Vanguard Ride! Stellar Magus!" With a quick wave of the wand, a stream of stars came out, striking Kagurabloom. "Ryan, hang on! Lissa!"

Lissa came in, pointing her Heal Staff at him. At once, warmth flooded Ryan's body. "You okay?" Ryan patted her shoulder a couple of times in reply. "Your sister is really good!"

"I know," Ryan mumbled, watching as she summoned a blue-haired woman in a white dress with blue transparent stone on her body (_Briolette Magus_) and then unleashed energy from her body, causing Briolette Magus to disappear. "I wonder, though…"

"About what?" Lissa asked, but was interrupted by Vaike getting into the fray himself.

"I'm back, baby!" Vaike crowed, dashing past him. "Vanguard Ride! Field Driller!" Vaike's axe disappeared, as two large drills appeared in either hand, spinning wildly. "Call, Dudley Dan!" A lavender-skinned demon appeared behind Vaike as he charged, thrusting forward with his drills. Kagurabloom caught the weapon easily, and instead knocked him aside.

"Certainly has courage," quipped Ryan.

"Yeah, fat lot of good does him if he dies, though. Vaike! Quit messing around!" Lissa snapped at him.

"Sorry! Wasn't expecting him to do that!" Vaike called.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of Cray-help me up? Please?"

Stahl rounded around, still visibly wounded, and came back in for another charge, glowing as his armor transformed once again. "Vanguard Ride! Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer!" Not only was Stahl's armor even more ornate, he was new carrying a scythe and his horse was now in a black and gold war dress. Kagurabloom caught Stahl's scythe as it came down, and then twisted, pulling Stahl off his horse.

"Hey! Crazy black samurai dragon says what!?" Vaike said, as Machine Gun Gloria and Reckless Express went after Kagurabloom, only for it to exhale more cold fire at them, halting their attack run.

"Talesin! Didrane!" Suddenly, two more units, one a knight in huge golden plate armor carrying a large greataxe came in, followed by an armored woman with rabbit ears came flying in at Stahl's command, landing a powerful blow against Kagurabloom's back.

"Finally! Some progress!" Regan grinned.

Famous last words. Kagurabloom glared at the Shepherds around them, and then roared, drawing energy into it once again. What came out of the cloud of smoke was another dragon, although this one looked a lot more humanoid than any of the others they had seen thus far, and in one hand it carried a purple and black ninjato. But the most damning thing of all was the black and red ring of energy that surrounded like a halo. (_Covert Demonic Dragon, Hyakki Vogue Reverse_)

"That black ring again…!" Lissa said.

"Hyakki Vogue Reverse…" groaned Ryan. "I was really hoping to avoid that this time…"

Hyakki Vogue placed its hands together, and two more Hyakki Vogues appeared next to it, all three of them raising their blades. A Vanguard circle lit up the sky, and a black cloud of smoke swirled out over the battle, obscuring Regan, Vaike, and Stahl from sight.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?" Regan asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Vaike.

"Just stay together and don't move! We can't rescue each other if we're spread out!" Stahl called out, preparing his scythe.

In a flash, Hyakki Vogue came flying in, swinging his ninjato in multiple flashing arcs in the darkness. Regan stumbled a little, clutching at the place right under her ribs the ninjato had cut. Vaike was holding his head, having dodged the attack, but there was now a gash on the side of his head that was bleeding, and Stahl had yet another cut through his armor. And then it was gone, disappearing through the blackness to wherever it was going.

"Guys, on your left! Perfect Guard!"

Regan heard her brother calling out to her in the blackness, and then turned to her left to see another ninjato coming at her, this one glowing bright yellow. "Perfect Guard! Tetra Magus!" Another woman, this one adorned in square cut emeralds, quickly produced an energy wall. Hyakki Vogue's ninjato struck it, and the dragon itself flipped backward, going for Vaike.

"Perfect Guard! Cheer Girl Marilyn!" A succubus cheerleader with red hair came out, raising her own barrier against the attack. Hyakki Vogue snarled, then bounced off the barrier to go after Stahl.

"Perfect Guard! Halo Shield Mark!" The Gold Paladin Sentinel quickly burst out, guarding his master against the blow. It growled, then disappeared back into the blackness.

"Now behind you!"

"Guard!"

The third Hyakki Vogue came flying in, trying to catch them all by surprise, but Ryan's warning came at the right time. Vaike was saved by a football player punting his football in Hyakki Vogue's face (_Kung-Fu Kicker_), and then a blue-haired elf ninja (_Silent Punisher_) and a gnome in blocky blue and gold armor wielding a sword, catching the oncoming attack easily and turning it away. Hyakki Vogue spun, turning away from the three units, and went right for Regan, intending to finish her off.

"Perfect Guard! Dimensional Robo Daishield!"

Ryan's yellow mech came out, raising its shield to defend his sister. Deterred, Hyakki Vogue retreated, the black clouds vanishing as Ryan and Miriel rejoined them.

"That was a great call, Ryan! How'd you know where it was going to attack from?" asked Vaike.

"I saw the attacks from the outside the dome he put you in. Impressive maneuver, but not very original," said Ryan. "And now that you've survived that, his Kagurabloom Break Ride is over and his clones go away." Already the other two Hyakki Vogues were starting to go away. "Now's our chance to attack! Vanguard Ride!"

"Vanguard Ride!" Stahl, Regan, Vaike, and Miriel echoed, their Vanguards transforming as one.

"Hexagonal Magus!" Regan's clothes were replaced with a black dress with cybernetic parts, a black and red visor sliding down over her eyes.

"CEO Amaterasu!" A woman in a white robe came out appeared behind Miriel, black hair tied in an ornate hairdo, and a large mirror hanging around her neck.

"Bad End Dragger!" Vaike's armor was now bright red and much more blocky, spinning another spiked football in his hands.

"Spectral Duke Dragon!" Stahl's armor, however, disappeared, shooting up into the air to transform into a humongous black and gold dragon.

"**Super Dimensional Robo! DAI! KAI! SEEEEER!**" Ryan's robotic Vanguard smashed its fists together, standing even taller than Stahl's Spectral Duke Dragon.

"So what's the plan, exactly?" asked Vaike, looking over the group. "We got a lot of power, but I'm not entirely sure what the plan is."

"I got one. Just give me a little time to set up. Once my new Vanguard hits the ground, you need to pound him as hard as you can, get him to exhaust as much as his defense as you can," said Ryan.

"Your new Vanguard? How are you gonna get a new Vanguard after you just rode that big thing?"

Ryan grinned a whiskey grin as he moved forward, pointing to the side. "Just watch me shine, baby! Call!" Ryan pointed, and his ninja Dimensional Robo quickly appeared next to Daikaiser. "**Super Dimension Robo! SHADOW KAISER!**"

"Now, let's really put the pedal to the metal! Counterblast!" Ryan hit the button on his damage bracelet and raised it high, Shadow Kaiser taking flight into the air. "DOCKING FORMATION!"

"**SHADOW KAISER!**" Daikaiser took off into the air as Shadow Kaiser adopted its flight mode, the two units coming together in a blinding flash of light.

"_Space…the stars…they call for a friend! Courage brings forth justice! Justice brings forth hope! Hope brings forth courage! Enhance each other, and rise up high, ye soldiers of destiny! Vanguard Superior Break Ride!_"

"**ULTIMATE DIMENSION ROBO! GREAT! DAI! KAI! SEEEEER!**" Ryan's new humongous Vanguard boomed.

"That thing is huge!" said Stahl.

"Good thing it's on our side!" said Vaike.

"Stahl! Miriel! Flush him out!" Ryan said, spinning his sword in his hand.

Stahl and Miriel went, Sagramore, Talisen, Blue Eye, and Amaterasu all attacking Hyakki Vogue all at once, however, a red-haired demon with a sword (_Stealth Fiend of Dagger, Yaiba_) and an animated Japanese lantern (_Stealth Fiend, Lantern Ghost)_ suddenly came out to protect the Abyss Dragon from further harm.

"It's Vaike Time!" Vaike came roaring in with Olivia and Dudley Phantom. The two demons attempted their football/explosive round combination once more, sending the Reversed dragon's head backwards. But then it simply moved its head back and adjusted its jaw, glowing green from a Heal Trigger. "Come on!"

"My turn!" Regan said, Cuore and Crescent Magus taking their turn. "Drive Charge: Briolette Magus!" Once again, the two units unleashed a blast of magic at it, but then a rat wielding an oversized shuriken got in the way (_Stealth Beast Million Rat_). "Ryan! Finish it!"

"**RAI-OH! ENJOUKEN!**" Great Daikaiser prepared its humongous weapon, crackling with energy once again.

"Ultimate Dimensional Robo Final Combination: JUDGMENT ANNIHILATION!" Ryan said, swinging his sword. The Dimensional Robo followed the same maneuver, aiming for a vital blow right at the dragon's head.

"**DANZAI! CHOOOOOUMETSU-NANI!?**"

Ryan blinked, not expecting that reaction out of his Vanguard. However, he saw the source of the problem easily enough: a pale young woman in a white robe. (_Silver Collar Snowstorm, Sasame_) And then suddenly, five more units came out with her, including Midnight Crow, a mountain lion with a metal bolas (_Right Arrester_), a white horse ninja with a golden hammer (_Stealth Beast White Mane_), an oni-faced spider (_Steatlh Fiend Dart Spider_), and a ninja cat with flaming fists (_Stealth Beast Cat Devil_), all of whom quickly reached out to block the oncoming sword strike.

"A Quintet Wall!?" asked Chrom in surprise.

"The Murakumo Clan has one!?" asked Frederick.

"Crap…" groaned Ryan. "Shadow Kaiser, Guard Break!" Ryan's bracelet glowed, creating a burst of energy that took out the Dart Spider. "Double Critical Trigger! Daibattles! Gorgon Eye!"

The Rai-Oh Enjouken blazed with yellow energy, attempting to slice through the remaining units, however, the Quintet Wall won out, pushing the sword off to the side.

"Ugh…what a waste of counterblasts…" Ryan sighed. The Hyakki Vogue Reverse, as if sensing the pall hanging over the Shepherds from their failed finishing move, quickly acted, summoning the two copies of itself back into play. "Ah nuts-!"

Immediately, Leaves Raccoon and Goemon vanished, turning into the dreaded black and red ringed orbs as the trio of Abyss Dragons drew their ninjato, then immediately spread out, slashing at everyone.

"Perfect Guard! Battle Sister Chocolat!" A small glasses-wearing nun suddenly burst out in front of one of the Hyakki Vogues, which was going for Miriel. The girl squeaked, firing a gatling gun in all directions to keep it from coming any closer.

"Guard, Wonder Boy! Intercept, Olivia!" Olivia got in front of Vaike as a human football player in green armor joined her, taking the blow from the second Hyakki Vogue.

"Guard, Sphere Magus!"

"Guard, Daibattles!"

The two Kings were thus protected, Regan by her initial Vanguard and Ryan by the race car. The three dragons moved back to their original ground, and it was clear they were angry from being unable to finish their opponent.

"Well, I think we've had a good run of it, but I think it's time we finish these guys off once and for all," Stahl observed.

"My thoughts exactly!" Regan beamed.

(_BGM – Break Your Spell, Psychic Lover_)

"Vanguard Ride! Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukiyomi!" The final member of the Tsukiyomi chain appeared in front of Miriel, the miko now resembling an avenging angel with bright blue wings and armed with its mirrored sword and shield.

"Vanguard Break Ride! Demonic Emperor, Dudley Lucifer!" Vaike's armor now became dark green, black and red, with a pair of black horns coming out of his head, spinning yet another spiked football in his hands.

"Vanguard Break Ride! Pentagonal Magus!" Regan's visor and blue dress disappeared, instead being replaced with a black top and pink skirt, with humongous shoulder plates decorated in shield-like designs and a large hood hanging over her head.

"Vanguard Ride! Conviction Dragon, Chromejailer Dragon!" Stahl's dragon transformed, its armor becoming more ornate and dark chains forming around its claws.

Ryan prepared his sword, staring down the three Abyss Dragon ninjas. "Stahl, Miriel, you and I will open for the attack, try and flush out his guards. Vaike, Regan, use your Break Rides to follow up behind us and finish it off! You've got the biggest punch out of all of us, so we want you to finish it!"

"As if you need to tell ol' Teach any different!" Vaike said.

"You got it!" said Regan.

"Then let's go tear it up!" Ryan said, raising his sword. "Great Daikaiser!"

"**RAI-OH ENJOUKEN! ITTOU RYOUDAN!**" Great Daikaiser also raised its sword, mimicking Ryan's move as it swung down on the main Hyakki Vogue and cutting through its neck. But then, it glowed the bright green of a Heal Trigger and reformed its body again. As it turned to face Ryan and Great Daikaiser, Tsukiyomi zipped past its maw, smacking it with the flat of its sword.

"I will be your opponent!" Miriel declared. "Tsukiyomi, Counterblast!" Tsukiyomi spun, feathers swirling around it as Miriel quickly pointed to her right. "Call! Evil Eye Princess Euryale!" A dark blue-scaled gorgon wielding a curved falchion appeared, glaring at Hyakki Vogue. "Bind!" Euryale glared at Hyakki Vogue, and immediately its sword, as well as its forearm, turned to stone.

"Call! Charging Bill Collector!" A muscle-bound football player in white and blue gear took off running at the same Hyakki Vogue, Dudley Phantom right behind it, and tackled it to the ground, only for it to turn into another log. "Come on! That was a clean shot!"

"Vaike, heads up! Chromejailer, Limit Break! Purgatory Overdrive!" Stahl came galloping in, chains from his black dragon Vanguard flying in all directions. Guiding Falconeer and Malgeant were speared on the chains, disappearing into sparkling light as Chromejailer Dragon as it went after Vaike. The dragon screeched and fell, disappearing. "That's one down!"

"Then that must be number two!" Vaike went for the other Hyakki Vogue. "Lucifer, Limit Break! Flea Flicker!" Vaike threw his football, which was quickly intercepted by a guarding Gurenjishi. As it exploded, taking the demon, Vaike grabbed the ball in mid-air and tossed it to the side in a lateral. "Come on, Dudley Mason!" A giant with dark purple body armor caught the ball, and then lowered its shoulder in a truck arm maneuver, smashing through the other Hyakki Vogue.

"Regan! That's the last one! Finish it off!" Ryan pointed with his sword.

"You got it! Limit Break! Drive Charge: Psychic Bird!" Regan's Pentagonal Magus armor began glowing bright yellow as she produced her Thunder tome once again. "And Double Critical Trigger! Psychic Bird! Oracle Guardian Nike!" The light intensified. Hyakki Vogue turned, raising its petrified arm and sword to strike her down…

"KA-BOOOOOOM!"

CRACK. BOOM. A mighty thunderbolt, several times larger than the ones Regan had summoned, came crashing down on Hyakki Vogue's head. The dragon slumped to the ground and vanished, arcs of electricity still dancing across the black motes of dust as it flew back up into the sky.

Regan giggled. "That was fun."

"Remind me not to get you angry," Ryan observed candidly.

* * *

With the Northroad finally cleared, the Shepherds decided to take a break on the side of the road. Chrom sent Frederick back to the city to report to Emmeryn about what happened while he, Ryan, Regan, and Lissa went on ahead to scout, making sure that the Risen they had just fought were the only ones around. By the look of things, though, they were the only group to have appeared. While the situation had been worrying, it looked to be only be an isolated incident.

"It's nice to know your sister is arguably is a skilled in the ways of the Vanguard as you are," said Chrom.

"Mm…" Ryan nodded. "My big problem is that she wasn't before."

"Huh? She wasn't?" Lissa asked, looking at Regan.

Regan merely shrugged. "This is usually something that was reserved for Ryan. He was the only one who spends all on money on the cards."

"Cards? What's all this about cards?" Lissa asked, looking from Regan to Ryan, looking even more confused with each turn.

"Regan, can we discuss that some other time?" Ryan asked quickly. "Maybe with everyone else around so it doesn't look like I'm keeping secrets?"

Regan blinked in confusion, but nodded all the same. "Sure."

"Though, could you answer me this? How'd you get so good at handling yourself with the Vanguard?" asked Ryan. "You were still right about the fact that I was the only one with any kind of knowledge about Vanguard."

"My avatar taught me!" Regan chirped happily.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"An avatar is a unit that is a representation of you. Even when used as a Vanguard, it has more power than other units like it," said Chrom.

"I know what an avatar is. I just didn't think you'd be handling yourself like a seasoned pro in just two days, even with help from an avatar."

"You dare doubt me?" Regan asked with a sly grin.

"Well, I mostly speak from experience, because my avatar has been remarkably silent since the last time we talked," said Ryan bluntly.

"Well, if your avatar is you, then I don't find that troubling," Regan shrugged. "You are kind of the strong silent type…unless you're doing your 'brainstorming' stuff, then you never shut up."

Ryan rolled his eyes and Lissa giggled as they continued down the road. The elder King was becoming more and more confused by the situation he now found himself in. Originally alone, he had managed to come across his sister, and despite of his own previous knowledge of Vanguard and his sister's own disinterest of it, here she was fighting with the best of them as if she started playing the day it came to America. However, he was distracted, as he often was, by something in the distance. "Oy, Chrom. What's that up ahead?"

Chrom tilted his head, following Ryan's finger before increasing his pace, Regan, Lissa, and Ryan right behind him. Upon cresting the hill, they saw a magnificent white winged horse, garbed in a Ylissean white and blue battle dressing, grazing on the local fauna.

"It's a pegasus!" Regan summed it up nicely.

"And so it is," Ryan deadpanned.

"It's a pegasus alright," Chrom said, walking past the King siblings to see it from another angle, and immediately he spotted a couple of long, shallow gashes on its flank, probably from a glancing blow from a sword. "It looks like it's been hurt. Let's just have a look here…" He took two steps towards the pegasus, and immediately the Pegasus reared, quickly forcing the prince to jump back to avoid getting smacked. "Whoa! Down, girl! Easy there!"

"Captain! One moment!"

The group looked behind them and saw Sumia walking towards them, apparently having followed them down the road. She took two steps and promptly fell on her face once again.

"Oof, felt that one way over here," Ryan commented.

"Sumia! Are you alright!" Chrom immediately moved away from the wounded pegasus and went to her. "…those boots of yours again?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean…never mind," Sumia sighed.

"Well, come no closer, that beast is crazed!" Chrom said, looking back towards the pegasus, who had yet to return to grazing.

"I think it's scared more than anything, dude," Ryan cut in. "If it were crazed, I don't think we'd be having time to talk about it."

Chrom gave Ryan a strange look. "What did you call me? 'Dude?'"

"It's an American thing," Ryan waved it off.

"It's okay, Captain, I can handle this." Sumia brushed past Chrom, walking past him and the Kings to approach the pegasus. It started to rear again, but Sumia held out her arms, approaching it slowly. "Ssh…easy now, girl. I won't hurt you."

The pegasus snorted, a little confused by the fact it didn't scare off Sumia like it did Chrom. Sumia took another step, slowly extending her hand to the pegasus's head. As if sensing the brunette's calmness, it lowered its head, allowing Sumia's hand to touch it. Finally under control, Sumia quickly made her way over, comforting it more.

"Okay. That's damn impressive," Ryan said approvingly.

"That's incredible, Sumia!" added Lissa.

"I've never seen anything like it," Chrom breathed. He seemed almost in awe of the clumsy pegasus knight before him.

"It's nothing, really…I guess I just have a way with animals," said Sumia.

"I should say so!" Chrom said with a nod.

"I wanna touch it!" Regan said.

Ryan reached out, his long arm stopping Regan from moving forward. "Settle down, Steve Irwin. Let's wait until Sumia has it under control."

"'Steve Irwin?' Who's that?" asked Lissa.

"It's an American thing," Ryan said.

"Australian, actually, but same diff, really," Regan corrected.

"You all can go on ahead…" Sumia said, quickly reaching into her satchel. "I'll dress her wounds and catch up as soon as we're able."

"Why? We're not exactly pressed for time," asked Ryan, looking at Chrom. "…are we?"

"Ryan's right. We can make time to wait for you," agreed Chrom.

"It's alright. Every moment is precious when Ylisse is in danger," Sumia shook her head.

Chrom sighed, relenting. Sumia was correct, such as it was. "Right then. Be safe, Sumia. I suggest we regroup with the others, Ryan, Regan. I'd like to be back on the road before nightfall."

"Sounds like a plan," Ryan said.

"As you command, sir," said Sumia.

* * *

_The Shepherds were the only other group aside from the wushu club I was a part of in college who had managed to become my friends. Yes, that does include Maribelle. I'd been around groups before, and while some of them liked me, I never really considered them my friends. But, in spite of my new situation, a foreigner in a distant land with no quick way of coming home, the Shepherds took me in. In a way, they were my family in a way that was more than my actual family._

_Regan's presence with Stahl puzzled me. Why was one of my sisters in Ylisse? If she fell through the same portal I did, why wasn't she with me when I was picked up by Chrom and Lissa in Southtown? And how did she get so good with Vanguard? _

_Despite all that, I was very happy that she was safe and willing to travel with us to Regna Ferox. It meant not only would my questions have an answer of some sort, but I could test her skills objectively if I wanted. But that would come later. In the meantime, I was just ready to enjoy where the road would take us. And hopefully, we would find our other siblings somewhere down the road._


End file.
